Evening star., 1943-04-10
Bulk Of FPHA
War Housing Of
Temporary Type
98% Of Buildings
To Be DismontIed
After Emergency

More than 90 Per cent Of the wa,
housing units assigned to the Fed.
eral Public Housing Authority fol
development during recent month!
represented temporary construction
scheduled for dismantling after tn.
end OF the war, Commissioner Her.
bert Emmerich announced today.
Between October l, 1912, ane
March IS, 1913. approximately 163,.
600 units of all types were pro.
grammed by the National Housing
Agency for construction with Gov
eminent funds. OF these 16O 3O(
involve temporary construction, l 20(
are leased units; 500 demountable
types, and only 1000 represent per-
manent construction. Most of the
1000 permanent units are Federally-
aided low-rent projects converted
to war housing for the duration OF
the emergency rather than projects
financed directly by war housing. ap-
propriations.
Much Temporary Construction.
when the current publicly
financed war housing program was
presented to Congress last summer,
1t was contemplated that roughly
25,OO0 OF the 205, 900 units to be
financed by the $500 900 900 appro-
priatiou approved by Congress In
October would be family dwelling
units OF permanent construction,
with the remainder to be temporary
family units, dormitories or trail
ers," Mr.. Emmerich pointed out. In
actual experience, however, a much
higher proportion of temporary con-
Struction has been built"
In concentrating its current build
Ing program on temporary projects,
the FPHA is serving three impor-
tant wartime objectives.
l. Temporary construction assists
In conservation Of critical war ma
terials, the saving being from 80
to 40 per cent per unit.
2. Temporary construction affords
protection against over-building of
communities which are unlikely to
be able to absorb permanently the
housing built for specific wartime
needs. The National Housing
Agency's policy is to specify financed
war housing principally in commu-
mites where the need is temporary
or where private builders cannot
meet necessary wartime require
ments.
3. The cost Of temporary construc-
ton Is lower. For family units, the
cost OF temporary construction is
roughly IS to As per cent lower than
for permanent construction. Thus,
the funds required to construct 10
permanent family units will finance
roughly II temporary units.
Projects on Leased Sites.
The shift to temporary construc-
ton As = wartime measure has pro-
eeeded rapidly since the establish
ment Of the FPHA in early 1912. Mr.
Emmericn said.
On March 81, 1912, the publicly
financed war housing assigned for
development up to that date consist
ed Of 10000 permanent units, 5000
demountable units and $4,000 tenn
porasy units.
BY March Is, 1943, the total num-
Der Of permanent units in the pro-
gram had increased by only $1,000 to
105, 700, whereas the number of tenn
porary units had expanded by about
100000 to almost $4,000. In the
same period, the number Of de-
mountable units had increased by
$1,000 to $4,000.
To implement further its policy
of temporary construction for war
housing, the FPHA endeavors wher-
ever possible to place its temporary
projects on leased sites rather than
on purchased land, Mr.. Emmerich
stated. This policy is pursued for
economy and also to facilitate the
removal OF temporary structures
after the war, he said.