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102
might have been considered unsound financially. Productivity is
rising and it may well be practical in these days of urgency to
countenance such expenditure with a view to writing it off within
a few years, e.g. it is now taken for granted that a motor car produced
today will be written off in a few years' time.
Preserving some properties which, on paper at least, are
doomed for demolition will give local authorities vital breathing
space. Much of the scorn poured on Victorian building is "fashion"
stimulated but many an excellent conversion has been made from
such a property to enable it to serve the community still further.
Doutless it was with this aim in mind that the Minister of Housing
and Local Government issued, on 2nd August of the current year,
his Circular 42/62 entitled "Improvement of Houses". In it he
urged local authorities to increase the number of houses being
improved by systematically selecting streets or areas in which suitable
properties were situated and to exhort the owners and tenants
to avail themselves of the facilities provided. In order to arouse
interest in the matter he also suggested that not only should local
authorities offer guidance to these people (with particular reference
to the preparation of plans) but that in suitable cases loans might
well be arranged. The Minister indicated that he will readily
sanction loans for the purchase of properties where owners, who
for any reason, were unable to improve their houses but were
willing to sell to the local authority or for compulsory purchases
in cases of intransigence.
When expediency is the order of the day a medical opinion in
housing matters has very little practical weight, except perhaps
in cases of slum clearance. Such an opinion is hardly ever sought
prior to, or in the early stages of, planning and even when given
in connection with "re-housing" or "transfers" it has a very limited
effect, however serious the case or despite the need, due mainly
to the lack of spare accommodation available to local authorities.
The situation would appear to be one of "putting the cart before
the horse" in the sense that many medical problems arising in a
community often have a connection, directly or indirectly, with
housing conditions. So much so that one would expect the medical
aspects of the physical and mental needs of the people to be given
a high priority in the formulation of any housing scheme.
Perhaps housing estates might be better balanced and therefore
more satisfactory if they were planned not merely as so many
units of accommodation as they so often are but also with a greater
than hitherto emphasis on the potential social, health and welfare
effects for, in the long run, it is these matters which will determine
the happiness of the coming generation. For example, in urban