Evening star., 1939-06-03
Group Housing Built
With j. !. H. 4. Aid
Hailed by Gray
Promises AppreeiobIy
Lower Rents, Says
Head Of Committee

Group housing, based on the
neighborhood unit, built with U. S.
H. A. aid, promises appreciably
lower rents than those of the iso-
lated Fort Wayne, Ind, houses, un-
der their financial setup according
to George A. Gray of New Haven,
Conn. vice chairman of the Com
mittee on Federal Public Works of
the American Institute of Archi-
tects.
Private enterprise producing
similar houses in groups might un-
der favorable conditions produce
rents, which with the accompany
ing advantage of group prices for
utilities, would be available to the
upper strata of low-income groups"
concludes Mr.. Gray in an analysis
of the Fort Wayne Housing Prof.
ect.
The breakdown of first cost and
annual budget of the Fort Wayne
scheme. under which houses are
produced to rent for $3.50 week
for family of four, make possible q
comparison with similar U. S. H. A.
projects and with private projects,
Mr.. Gray says.
The outstanding and unique
characteristic of the scheme is that
the houses are built on borrowed
land. costing the Housing Author
ity 81 a year" he points out. This
ivuN1uaS a cnnNnI Irinnn oh OF
istic. that the houses must be porta-
BILE, the third characteristic, almost
unique in this country and other
countries, is that they are available
to those on relief. the very lowest
income group. Each of these char
acteristics deserves careful evalu-
alton.
System Is Experiment.
The Fort Wayne authority
frankly looks upon this system as
an experiment. Another authority
has investigated the possibilities of
setting up a group under U. S. H.
A. regulations, using a similar type
of house grouped in An organized
neighborhood. A comparison of the
costs of the two brings out a num-
Der of interesting points.
To take full advantage of the
low money rate of the U. S. H. A.
It is necessary to build more sub
stantial and fire-resisting houses
than the Fort Wayne one-story,
cellarless, plvwood houses, such as
will be good for so years CA
houses. On similar basis of ac-
counting, such house, with a 10
per cent enlargement of bedroom
area to meet scientifically derived
standards of air supply. and its pro-
rated share of the land in a group
project, would result in a first cost
Of 81 per cent more than the Fort
Wayne isolated houses ESTIMATED
for only 20 years..
"Of this about 311a per cent is
due to the house itself and 2217 per
cent due to extra land for play
grounds and encourage; but again
on the same accounting the rents of
the U. S. H A. house would be $206
q week. against the Fort Wayne
house CB' houses at 1920 (the rise
from $3.50 being due to bringing
various maintenance items to the
same leveD.
These figures are derived from
the cost items used in articles in
the N. All. 0. News and include the
land and It's developments at $3.50
per family. This amounts to $5,400
per acre on the assumption of II
families per acre, a commonly ac-
cepted standard for preliminary fig
uring for low-cost houses.
Subsidy Brings Rental Down.
The principal item that brings
down the rental of "A houses Is the
annual subsidy from U. S. H. A,
which wipes out amortization
charges and interest on 90 per cent
OF the cost of the project. leaving
the interest on the bonds of the
housing authority as the only cost
of financing. The charge for repairs
and maintenance of b houses is
less because there are no grounds to
be kept up; less for management be-
cause handled by Associated Char
tiles.
Private enterprise building a
group of "A houses at normal costs
on land CA prices, but with first
costs and operating costs the same
as those at Fort Wayne, and with
out benefit of tax exemption and
Associated Charities management,
would require $39l per week to meet
costs. If to this is added per cent
profit on the cost, the rent would
be $6 SO for the family Of four, re-
quiring a wage of $27 SO per week.
Group purchases of water, gas
and electricity would greatly reduce
the cost of these items to the tenants
In the two group projects. but not to
the isolated houses. These items
under ordinary SUM conditions
sometimes approximate the cost of
rent. Money saved from them is
money available for rent, and they
also make for more wholesome liv-
ing"