The Washington times., 1921-06-12

to make a substantial dent in the ma.
tionwide housing and office room
shortage.
The nation now is short more thar
l ,OOO, 900 homes and apartments, ac.
cording to estimates made before Con
gressional investigating committees.
The housing shortage is direct
result of the war period, during which
construction work. except that needed
to house war material concerns, was
practically halted throughout the
United States. This brought conges-
ton in every big city OF the country.
Rents scared and many American
families were forced into two and
three room apartments. where for
merly they had been accustomed to
twice as much space. Many families
with two and three story homes moved
their belongings to the first floor and
shared with other families their
homes, renting the upper stories. The
American standard of living was thus
lowered in practically all big cities.
This was the period OF the
three-room furnished apartment
which was sublet for price
anywhere from 500 to 5000 month.
Million dollar corporations were
formed in Washington. New York and
many other places to erect palatiai
apartment houses where one room
rented for 500 furnished and five
rooms for $3.50. There was no stan
dard. One family paid a given sum
per month for an apartment, but upon
moving out the new renter may nave
gladly proffered twice this amount
RENTS INCREASED so PER CENT.
The average rental received by the
real estate operator and the pre-war
landlord during these times OF in
Cation, however, was only 80 per cent
more than in 1914, according to the
trustworthy data Of the Department
of Labor. In comparison with the
900 per cent increase in clothing prices
during the war period. this was
trifiing advance, the reports show.
The sub-letting landlord, the family
which had an apartment under lease
at the pre-war rent. was the real
instigator OF the $200-a-month, hVe-
room furnished apartment, the Gov
ernments Investigations show.
In Washington this was especially
true. Many big apartment house own
ers today are receiving only hVe per
cent more than they obtained from
their properties in the pre-war period.
with a nationwide movement to in
crease. construction OF apartments ana
homes coming on, it is believed the
period of inflated rents is beginning
to wane.
The average cost of putting up
dwelling houses and apartments now
is in the neiGhborhood OF from Sioo
to $1,000 a room. This does not IN
clude the land. which often vastly
increases the total cost of the invest
ment on which the tenants must pay
interest, taxes, maintainance, and a
profit.
2s,OOO HOMES A MONTH
Taking the country as a whole,
the reports of building work now
seem to indicate that construction
of approximately 150. 900 dwelling
rooms month is being undertaken.
At three rooms to family this
would indicate that during the next
six months approximately 2o,ooo
homes and apartments Will be avail
able to reduce the housing shortage.
approximately half of the new con-
struction work is for homes and the
other half for commercial and busi-
ness purposes
Indicate that the new building pace
now being set will increase rather
than slow up. OF these, the most
important is the availability of
money for building loans. In the
second year following the armistice,
builders and real estate operators
complained that money was tight
and that it was almost impossible to
obtain it for construction work, The
head of a family who obtained esti-
mates on the cost of constructing a
home from contractor soon found
that although the builders fgures
might be within reason, financing
the house was another and appar-
emily impossible matter.
LOANS DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN
The man who had In cash $4,000
or $4,000 and wanted to build a
house to cost $4,000. borrowing the
balance, found he could not get the
money except at eXorbitant rates
which made the work almost inn
possible.
Building loan associations were
practically without funds, their
money being almost entirely at
work. The money which was avail
able for loans on construction work
had to be obtained through agents,
who charged commission. These
were men who either had the money
to advance or, in most cases, knew
somebody else that had it.
For putting the builder in touch
with the man who had money to loan.
these agents charged from 10 to 20
nor cant pf tho amount bOrrOWpd Th,