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moment. Apart from the role which the Urban District Council
played in fostering semi-municipal enterprise, the fact that a
further 287 Council houses were erected during the years which
elapsed between 1926 and 1930, shows that the Local Authority was
alive to the serious nature of the problem and was determined to
overcome it. It will not be necessary to point out that the period
in question was critical and fraught with innumerable difficulties.
The national housing problem was appalling, while the general
nutritional standard had fallen to a dangerously low level. People
were still living under deplorable conditions, and money, which
should have been spent in the purchase of necessary foodstuffs, was
being dissipated in the payment of uneconomic and in many cases,
exorbitant rents.
Any summary of the development of municipal housing enterprise
in Southgate would be incomplete without a reference to the
institution of the local housing bonds, in 1920, the proceeds of
which were used to build the Council's houses. Considerable difficulty
was experienced in obtaining the necessary funds, but the
Council persisted in its endeavours, and the number of houses
eventually built is eloquent testimony to the success of those efforts.
Reference must also be made to the number of loans granted to
families under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts, 1899-1923,
and the Housing Acts of 1923, 1925 and 1935, for the purpose of
purchasing houses. Since the inception of these loans in 1923, no
fewer than 1,575 families have been so assisted, the total sum lent
being £955,474. This sphere of the Council's activities has proved
exceedingly valuable and has helped many families to realise their
ambition without placing themselves in a dangerous position.
Following the activities already noted, a period of relative
quiescence intervened. Conditions improved somewhat throughout
the country, unemployment declined, and money became more
plentiful. In spite of this, the housing problem cried aloud for
solution Large numbers of families were still living very little
above the border-line of poverty, while rents were being demanded
and paid which precluded any margin for additional and muchneeded
nourishment. In addition, the vast problem of overcrowding
still remained, although possibly, and certainly in many
places, of which Southgate was fortunately one, in a modified form.
This situation received attention, and the Housing Act, 1936,
was passed in an endeavour to face the issue. What happened in
Southgate has already been mentioned, and it only remains to add
the further steps which the Council decided to adopt.
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