Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

CHAPTER II.

HOUSING.

1. General Position.-In the Report for 1925 it was indicated that we had been seriously concerned at the small output of houses. This was indeed so limited that, instead of any inroad being made into the large shortage reported on by the Royal Commission in 1917 and corroborated in 1919 by the returns. of local authorities, the houses required annually for the ordinary needs of the country were not being provided. The shortage was in fact apparently accumulating.

In the Report for 1924 the number of houses required annually to meet normal requirements was estimated at 10,000. Up to 1925, there was only one year since the State-assisted schemes. were inaugurated in 1919 in which that figure had been exceeded. This was in 1922, but the balance that could be set against the shortage of 131,101 houses estimated by local authorities in 1919 was so small as virtually to be negligible.

The following table shows the total number of houses completed each year from 1920 to 1925 under State-assisted Housing Schemes :

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

It will be seen that the number of houses completed fell considerably between 1922 and 1924. It was this feature of the situation that was most disquieting, and was primarily the reason for launching the schemes of alternative methods referred to in the Report for 1925.

2. Houses completed in 1926.-Though a noteworthy advance was made when in 1925 the output of houses, as compared with that of 1924, was nearly doubled, the number of houses built was still inadequate, and during 1926 the efforts of all concerned were directed to securing a further increase of completed houses. Local authorities have placed houses in the hands of the building trade during the year at the average rate of over 1,900 a month, including houses approved by local authorities under schemes of assistance to private enterprise.

These efforts have had gratifying results. The number of houses completed in 1926 by local authorities and private enterprise under schemes of State assistance was 12,474, the highest number completed in any year since the State-assisted housing campaign was started. This number does not include the steel

houses being erected in different districts by the Second Scottish National Housing Company (Housing Trust), Limited, on behalf of the Government. Of these 1,118 were completed in 1926. In addition, returns received from local authorities show that during the year 1,812 houses were completed by private enterprise without any public assistance. Of these, 1,338 were of five rooms or less. If this latter number, along with the steel houses, be added to the 12,474 houses already referred to, it will be seen that no less than 14,930 houses of a working class type have been provided in 1926. This means that on the basis already mentioned, 4,930 houses were available towards a reduction in the accumulated shortage of houses. The year 1926 is therefore the first in which any effective contribution has been made towards diminishing the large housing shortage in Scotland.

The number of houses under construction and definitely arranged for at the end of 1926 encourages the expectation that in 1927 the number completed (apart from steel houses and unassisted private enterprise) will reach 15,000 or 16,000. It is hoped that this progressive increase can be maintained during the next year or two, and that a steady rate of output will be maintained thereafter. The housing situation in Scotland can therefore be regarded with more confidence than at any time since the inception of the State-assisted schemes in 1919.

3. Summary of results since 1919.-At this point it may be useful to state shortly the result of the efforts made since 1919. By 31st December, 1926, there had been completed under schemes of State assistance 49,808 houses (including 1,118 steel houses under the direct scheme of the Government), while under these schemes at the same date there were under construction and definitely approved for erection, but not begun, 28,450. These various schemes have therefore produced or are in course of producing 78,258 houses. If to this total be added the houses of a working-class type which it is reckoned have been erected since 1919 by unassisted private enterprise-of which accurate records are unfortunately not available-the number last given would probably rise to 86,000. In effect the houses provided since 1919 are sufficient for a population of probably not less than 230,000, while houses under construction or definitely arranged are sufficient for a further population of 114,000, a total of 344,000 persons.

The distribution of the houses completed since 1919 and under construction at the end of 1926 under the various State-assisted schemes is shown in the following table :

1919 Act-Local Authority Schemes 25,107
1919 Act-Public Utility Society

Schemes

[blocks in formation]

22

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

In addition tenders for houses to the number of 6,269 had been definitely approved by local authorities, but the work had not been begun, while local authorities had approved proposals under assisted schemes of private enterprise for the erection of 1,713 houses not begun.

The table shows that the last of the 25,550 houses allocated to Scotland under the 1919 Act (the four-fifths of a penny scheme) are nearing completion. This was the first scheme of financial assistance, and under it the Government accepted liability for practically the whole loss on the scheme. Prices rose to such a height that the Government of the day decided to curtail this scheme. The majority of the houses were erected at a time of high prices, and the loss to be borne by the State will be heavy. This cannot yet be finally ascertained, but it may be noted that for the year 1927-28 the estimated Exchequer contribution to the loss on this scheme is £969,000, or a payment per house of £38.

4. Building by Private Enterprise.-The table also shows that of the 49,808 houses completed, 11,415 have been provided by private enterprise. A noticeable figure is that of the number of houses completed by private enterprise under schemes of assistance from local authorities under the Housing, &c. Act, 1923. Of the houses completed during the year under review, 3,838 were provided by private enterprise under the provisions of that Act. Comparatively little has been done by private enterprise under the Act of 1924, only 221 houses having been built during the year. No doubt this is due to the requirement of that Act that the houses must be built to let. The approval of plans by local authorities under their schemes of assistance to private enterprise has been maintained, the number of houses approved during 1926 averaging 400 per month.

At the end of the year 224 local authorities had schemes in operation under the Act of 1923 for the assistance of private enterprise. In practically all cases the assistance takes the form of a lump sum payment on completion of the house. Under the Act of 1924, schemes for the assistance of private enterprise have been framed by 22 local authorities. The assistance under this Act takes the form of an annual payment for a period of years, while, as already indicated, a condition of the larger subsidy is that the houses must be built for letting and not for sale.

Information obtained during the year indicated that houses were being approved for erection under subsidy schemes of local authorities which, having regard to their high cost or selling price, were not such as should be the subject of assistance from the Exchequer or from the rates. We had under consideration at the close of the year the terms of a circular to local authorities drawing attention to the necessity for limiting the subsidy to houses of a less value than that apparently approved in several districts.

5. Unassisted Private Enterprise.-Returns received from local authorities shew that during 1926 this form of private enterprise had erected 1,812 houses, as compared with 1,553 in 1924 and 1,852 in 1925.

6. Houses under construction at beginning of year not com pleted at end.-In the Report for 1925 reference was made to the fact that all the houses under construction at the beginning of the year had not been completed by the end of it. The same remark has to be made for 1926. While the number under construction at 1st January was 13,311, the number completed by 31st December was 12,474. The corresponding figures for 1925 were 9,808 and 8,201. An examination of the figures shews that of the 13,311 houses under construction at the beginning of the year, 10,198 were being erected for local authorities, while 3,113 were being erected by private enterprise with assistance from local authorities. Only 8,415 houses had been completed by the end of the year for local authorities, while 4,059 private enterprise houses had been completed. Although in the absence of particulars as to local circumstances no definite conclusion can be drawn from these figures, they seem to suggest that houses. erected by private enterprise can be completed more rapidly than those erected under schemes of local authorities.

7. Monthly output of Houses.-The following table shews the progressive output of houses under State-assisted schemes. each month during 1925 and 1926 (exclusive of the steel houses being erected by the Second Scottish National Housing Company), and also the number of houses, under these schemes," under construction at the end of each month :

[blocks in formation]

This table shews the greatly improved output of houses during the last eight months of 1926, and it is this output, coupled with the large number of houses under construction and definitely approved at 31st December, viz. 27,568, that gives hope for even better results in 1927. Provided prices remain reasonable, there seems no reason why this number, which represents, according to the output of 1926, over two years' work, should not be maintained, if not increased. To this end, following on the terms of the Report of the Scottish Advisory Committee referred to in paragraph 4 of the Annual Report for 1925, a circular was issued on 21st January, 1926, to local authorities, urging that new housing schemes should be timeously promoted, so that a continuous building programme might be in operation. The local authorities. at the same time were asked to co-operate with the local building industry committees with a view to taking all practicable means to increase the annual output of houses.

,

8. Revised Estimate of Housing Shortage.-As stated in the Report for 1925, medical officers of health were asked in their Annual Reports for that year to state the estimated number of houses required at the end of 1925 adequately to meet the needs of their districts. Many medical officers of health omitted to comply with this requirement, and in a number of cases the necessary particulars were subsequently obtained by correspondence. It is open to doubt, however, to what extent the estimates submitted can in all cases be accepted as accurate. It was hoped that, in view of the attention that had been directed to housing matters since 1919, fairly accurate information would now be available as to the housing needs of each area. While figures as to the numbers of persons without a house may be approximately ascertained from the lists of applicants for houses in the hands of local authorities, it appears that the number of houses required to replace occupied houses that should be closed and demolished is not readily ascertainable. This entails an accurate survey

« ZurückWeiter »