The Wilmington morning star., 1940-02-11
Low-Income Families To Commence
March Into Decent, Modern Houses

some form Of public assistance If
they are to be decently housed Tax
exemption appears to be the most
effective and the simplest form Of
public assistance.
The third outstanding device
through which better housing &C
comodations are made available to
low-income families is the group
purchase Of utilities. Decent dwell
ing facilities in the modern sense
do not consist of shelter alone. They
cnust also include light, refrigera-
tiol, heat, modern plumbing, and
if possible hot water. All these are
now denied to occupants of sub
standard houses in Wilmington as
elsewhere, because our economic
system has not yet solved the prob
lem Of making them available at a
sufficiently low cost. But all these
services will be furnished to occu-
pants of Charles T. Nesbitt Courts
and New Brooklyn Homes.
The answer lies in quantity pur-
chase. By purchasing gas for an en-
tire project through q single meter,
the cost per family will be only a
little more than 81 per family per
month. Ordinarily the same amount
# gas, bought by the average con-
sumer, would cost more than twice
as much. The same principle has
been applied 70 the purchase Of cleo
tricity, which will Gust tenants or.y
about s1.s0 per family per month
for both lighting and refrigeration.
So also with water, which Is pur-
chased through a central meter, and
SO also with heat and hot water,
9TH of which will be supplied
through q central steam plant on
each project. An example Of the saw
ing on heating costs is readily avail
able through a comparison Of the
537 tons, for New Brooklyn Homes,
(about two tons per family per Year,
with the amount that would be con-
gumed for heating a home ana hes t.
basis. Not only would considerably
more than two ions Of coal per
year be necessary for these prr-
poses, but the cost per ton would
hd OF 10oC$ ru-iot a e ynt1oh Tho
coal were purchased retail.
Similar principles Of economy will
be applied in operation Of the prof.
ects. Payrolls will be kept at a very
minimum, since every penny Of oper-
alton cost Is reflected in the rent.
Materials and tools for main: nance
work will be purchased in quantity
and the cost thereby brought down.
be contracted for; an example is tie
operation of the heating plants.
The average rent now paid ~
negro tenants Of sub-standard hous-
ing in Wilmington is 1892 Ter
d, onth for shelter, plus $500 for
utilities, according to a survey made
by the Housing Authority. The
Housing Authority does not intend
to fix a rental for its houses which
on the average will exceed this fig
ure. There may be some small dis
parity between rents in the vhite
and negro projects, to make up In
n ~ for {hn Ornot IifFaranno To- IN
come.
AS this is written, the New Brook
lyn Homes are about 60 per cent
completed, and it appears probable
that the first families will be moved
into the building at Fourth and
Nixon streets in April or not later
than May. The Charles T. Nesbitt
Courts are about Is per cent COM.
project is to be done by November
30.
The Housing Authority feels that
if the challenge to reduce rents to
workable levels can successfully be
met, and If as a result those real I
in need Of decent housing can be
moved into it's projects, it will have
carried the day for public housing
in Wilmington. There re, of
course, other criticisms, principally:
that which holds that government
subsidized rental property is COM
peting with private enterprise. But
this objection seems to be met by