Evening star., 1937-11-20
BUILDERS URGED
T0LAUNCH PLANS
$1,000, 100000 Program in
1888 Gets Backing of
Administration.


Members of the Home and Com
munity Builders National Associa-
tion today received definite assurance
that their plans to launch a two
billion dollar home building program
in 1888 will have the support and en-
couragement of President Roosevelt
and administration officials, Don A.
LOTUS, president of the organization,
stated today.
This assurance came in statements
from the White House following the
appointment of a commission to effect
ways and means to stimulate resi-
dental construction throughout the
Nation.
In announcing the administration
objectives. the President clearly
showed that he is definitely in accord
with the aims and ideas of the asso-
citation, as outlined in a communi-
cation sent to him two weeks ago,
and which will be discussed in detail
at the associations national conven-
ton in Washington January II, IL
and l3. In statement today, LOTUS
said:
Text of Statement.
lone of the principal points stressed
In the communication. and which
later was supported in expressions by
the Chief Executive, was that large
scale community building of modern,
low-priced homes was needed to meet
the Nations requirements and to ele-
vate the home building industry to
normal levels
I'VE arrived at this conclusion after
an intensive study of the national
housing situation and economic trends.
At the outset we sought to determine
the kind of house that would be &C
ceptable to the lower income groups
at the price these groups would and
could pay AS an experiment we pro-
duced four-room brick houses of first
class materials. with modern appoint
mentS on desirable sites and offered
them for sale at less than $4,000, but
they were not accepted by the work.
ing class for which they were in
tended.
"One such house in Midwestern
but did not sell. The reason was obvi-
Gus. The lower income groups
especially the laboring classes, have
large families and require more room
CThe logical solution to placing these
families in homes of their own is to
provide them with used houses, thou
sands of which are available at prices
much lower than the cost of repro
duction Sale of these,> in turn. would
permit present occupants to purchase
new homes)
Five to Six Rooms
Our studies indicated definitely that
the great majority in the lower in
come groups require a minimum OF
five rooms. while most of them want
six-room houses These, to be ac-
cepted, must be of latest design, first
class materials and workmanship, con-
veniently located, equipped with mod
ern devices and offered at low prices
on easy terms
The public demands in home what
It gets in an automobile; and the pub
lie will not accept an automobile or
a house that is too small, too high
priced, or that does not include latest
design and equipment. Motor car
manufacturers solved the problem by
adapting methods of production and
distribution to economic conditions
Builders must do the same thing.
Attempts to solve the cost problem
have led certain interests into the field
of re-fabrication and into experiments
with materials other than lumber and
masonry. These have failed utterly
A noteworthy example: Twenty-three
million persons repeatedly visited the
pre-fabricated houses at the World S
Fair, but according to latest advices
not more than so such houses were
built in the whole country as a direct
result
Failure of the industry to bring
price close enough to purchasing power
to achieve satisfactory results is due
mainly to the continued use of old
fashioned methods with their burden
some overhead costs, duplication of eff
fort, multiplicity of profits. ineficiency
OF changing personnel and general lack
OF proper supervision.
This failure is reflected in reports
OF home building progress within the
last few years. In 1886, for example
the total production of single-family
homes in the United States reached
less than 10000. The 1887 production
1t is estimated, will not exceed that
ngure by very much. There should
be an annual production of 100000
sngle-family homes, but even this
would not lower the actual shortage
now estimated at 100000 homes.
Old Methods Discarded.
Members of the Home and Com
munity Builders Association solved the
problem of volume production by dis
cardlng worn-ou methods in favor of
large-scale community development
with all its opportunities for scientific
planning, cooperative buying, eco
nomic handling of materials, CO.
ordination of services, correlation of
trades, close supervision of construc-
tion and convenient, long-term financ-
Ing for the customer.
In one such development. miles
from the heart of metropolis, ZIG at
tractive, modern homes, equipped with
latest improvements, were built, sold
and occupied within the last two years,
and 43 others. also sold, are in course
Of construction. Spacious lots are in
cluded in the price, which Is low
enough to meet the requirements OF
the lower-income. white-collar groups
Similar projects have been started in
81 other communities"