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SECTION C.
HOUSING.
General
The aims of the housing authorities are to secure for
everyone decent housing conditions, within reasonable reach
of the place of employment and at a rent which the family
can affordo These aims are to some extent contradictory.
Apart from basic essentials some amenities should be
provided so that every family irrespective of size or financial
position should be able to develop and live a full and
healthy life. The provision of these amenities is expensire
and an economic rent might well be beyond the means of the
ordinary working family, so that it is necessary for the rent
to be subsidised both from central and local sources, As a
result persons living in the older properties with a minimun.
of amenity do in fact contribute largely to the rent of those
who are fortunate enough to obtain the tenancy of a Council
house or flat.
In order to keep people reasonably close to their places
of work in places where land available for building is
scarce, it is necessary to build flats, which people generally
do not want, rather than houses which they do want. In
Poplar it has fortunately been possible to build some houses
although the majority of post war housing has been provided
as flats.
All housing authorities endeavour to make the best use
of accommodation available putting a large family into a
large house or flat and a small family into a small one, and
on that basis there is some justification for the idea that
the rent should not depend on the number of rooms, or, indeed
that the larger accommodation should be at a lower rent. It
is admitted that family allowances do not adequately provide
even for food and clothing for the children in respect of
whom the allowance is payable and apart from the armed services
a man's rate of pay does not vary according to the
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