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13
Housing.
You are aware from a report presented to you of the general
consideration pertaining to this mo.st important question. Broadly
speaking the amount of so-called slum property in the area is at the
moment relatively small and the methods available at present for
dealing with that which does exist are unfortunately unavoidably
limited. Clarification will undoubtedly be given in the future when
the general housing position doe.s itself become satisfactory.
Repairs provide a considerable amount of work and worry for this
department and have increased considerably in amount due to the
impracticability of carrying out routine maintenance during the war
years. Complete and effective action in this regard is also quite
clearly impeded by the shortages of various kinds which occur from
time to time and doubtless by the natural emphasis placed upon the
construction of new dwellings or the repair of war-damaged
buildings.
Overcrowding represents the most clamant problem to be
tackled and here again time, allied to housing progress, will provide
the solution. It cannot be anything but a source of anxiety to see
the conditions under which many of our inhabitants are today
living.
Gratifyinglv the building position appears now to be making
considerable progress and in time will, of course, reduce the incidence
of overcrowding to a minimum. As a question to be tackled
it should be borne in mind that overcrowding was in fact appreciable
on the facts ascertained from the Housing Survey under the 1936
Act, and the advent of war with its inevitable social upheaval could
not but aggravate even beyond anticipation the pre-war state of
affairs.
Eventually when a relatively stable population is assured a
further survey will require to be made and a further report reviewing
the position and the measures to be taken for dealing with it
will be presented to you. although this is likely to be a considerable
way off yet.
It is, I think. apt not to receive due emphasis that the housing
problems of an area are not completely met by providing new
dwellings for the needy inhabitants thereof. It is equally essential
to provide full encouragement for the best possible use of these
dwellings by their new occupants and to ensure that a ready ear is
available for the reception of their difficulties and the giving of the
necessary advice to cope with them. Every family is entitled not
only to view the latest labour saving developments at an Ideal Home
Inhibition and to read of them in the Press, but what is far more
important, to see them translated into their own daily life and