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106
and some serious shortages exist in many areas and there is certainly
nowhere near enough accommodation suitable for the elderly.
Of the total of 14f million dwellings, some 3f million were
built before 1880 and consequently in accordance with modern
requirements the majority of these are substandard either on the
basis of design and provision of amenities or for the simple reason
that they have come to the end of their useful lives. Indeed
it has been estimated that in addition to the fact that 29 per cent
of all households have no bath, 28 per cent no hot water, 6 per
cent no flush lavatory and 3 per cent no kitchen sink, there are
600,000 houses unfit for human habitation and waiting for demolition
under slum clearance schemes, mostly from among the houses
built prior to 1880.
Although the size of the overall problem can be more or less
gauged, there are certain inherent difficulties which must be overcome
when going "at full speed" for new dwellings, such as avoiding
the swamping or overstraining of local building resources and
skills, and the necessity for ensuring that the accommodation being
provided must be what the people actually want at a price which
they can afford to pay.
Due to financial difficulties some smaller authorities are unable
to produce the necessary housing and an amalgamation of some of
them, in housing projects, would doubtless keep the economics of
the situation at a reasonable level. Perhaps further economies
could be affected by new building techniques, particularly prefabrication
and standardisation, bearing in mind that new materials
should be used with caution. However, standardisation and prefabrication
presupposes the existence of a sufficiency of comparatively
large building organisations. This however is not so, for the
building industry is still predominantly one of the "small man"
who is either unable or unwilling to re-equip or modernise his firm
and whose answer to labour shortages and troubles, more often
than not, is to restrict his order book.
Clearance of substandard dwellings still remains the main
method of providing housing in urban areas but if we are not to
be left a legacy of psychological problems in the future, this must
proceed with utmost prudence and humanity. It must be remembered
that slum clearance means the uprooting of families from
life-long environments and the destruction of well established and
successful communities and that these items are not necessarily
reproduced by modern dwellings in new areas. This aspect is
particularly noticeable with the rehousing of the elderly, for many
are provided with accommodation and amenities beyond their
dreams and yet some seem to wither in their new surroundings.