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54
HOUSING.
(I) GENERAL HOUSING CONDITIONS in the AREA
(1) The general housing conditions in the area, speaking
comparatively are very good. Fully half the houses
have been erected during the last twenty years and a
striking feature of the district is the very large proportion
of modern houses of the villa type. The
unsatisfactory houses in the district are relatively
few and in no part of the district are there groups
of houses exhibiting anything approaching the very
bad housing conditions to be found in many of the
large and small towns of England. There is a considerable
number of houses that are far from satisfactory
and that do not provide sufficient accommodation
or convenience for the families who occupy
them, but whether from the point of view of the proportion
of houses which are unsatisfactory or of the
degree of their unsatisfactoriness the standard of
the district is high.
(2) (a) Extent of shortage of houses.
In this district it is essential to distinguish
between two kinds of shortage; shortage of houses
to meet the needs of those already resident in the
district and shortage of houses to satisfy the demand
of people who wish to move into' the district.
The need for villas of six rooms and upwards is
being met by private enterprise, but houses for the
working classes have not been provided in recent
years except by the Council.
The Census figures of 1921 indicated that upwards
of 500 working class houses were required at
that time. Since then 282 houses have been provided
by the Council and taken into occupation. It
is doubtful however if the need has been appreciably
reduced, since during that period many marriages
have taken place resulting in the establishment of
additional families and also the rooms vacated by
those who have obtained Council houses have in
many cases been re-occupied by immigrants.