Evening star., 1947-12-19
British Housing Drive
Lags, But Government
Sees Success by 1949
BY the Assoeioted Press

| LONDON, Dec. ia new home
is still a dream to thousands of ILL
housed Britons. And the govern
ment's efforts at house building in
1947 didn't bring them much nearer
to f1resides of their own.
Delays and red tape have been
| the butt of jokes, and Tories and
Communists alike have belittled the
governments housing program. Yet,
despite criticism and setbacks due
to last winters bad weather and
shortages, the government tells the
public that, come 1949, a goal will be
reached.
That target-set by the wartime
coalition government is 100000
new houses-a separate home for
every family that was forced to
live with inlaws or bunk in with
lstrangers.
But in 1947 the program Jagged far
behind the planned rate Of con-
struction. A total of 100000 homes
100000 permanent and $4,000 tenn
porary-were to be built. Actually,
up to October 81, only 106,662 per-
manent and 39,625 temporary struc-
lures had been put up. At that rate
the total for the year will be hardly
more than half of the 1947 target.
Labor Shortage Cited.
AS early as last March, private
builders, complaining of "manpower
lineff1ciency," voluninous paperWork
and other red tape, predicted that
the country would be lucky If it got
half of the 100000 houses projected
for 1947.
In municipal and by-election CAM
paigns, politicians, other than So
cialists. have Wed with each other
ridiculing the governments lack of
progress in housing.
A rugged individual, one John Pin
mock of Bagshot, nursery garden
worker, announced he was complet-
ing his own house single-handed.
He could hardly have been annoyed
at the labor government, for he
started his house back in 1888. He
called it "Armeria," botanical name
for thrift"
Family Builds Bungalow.
Thrift, however, didn't help a
young couple with four children In
Laindon, Essex, who built d bunga-
low from two disused Army huts
No one warned them that they were
infringing local building laws. They
we're ordered a few weeks ago to
pull the bungalow down Public
protest was so great that the urban
council finally granted the couple
a years grace.
The governments policy in new
housing is to provide homes first
for workers in industry on which the
export drive depends. A shortage of
timber has been blamed principally
for the delays in the housing pro-
gram. So the government says:
More exports mean more timber
more timber means more houses" !"
When Sir Stafford Cripps, chan
cellor of the exchequer, recently
announced restrictions on capital
expenditures, Aneurin Bevan, Min
lister of Health, under whose juris-
diction home building is placed,
rushed to save housing from Sir
Stafford's ak. Mr.. Bevan explained
that a stock pile of materials had
been built up, that the manufacture
of fittings was going well. that a bal
anced labor force had been organ
lied, and that any slackening would
be waste of many months work.
One Program Pushed.
The government decided that the
need for new housing was so great
it would proceed with the building of
$780, 900 permanent homes now under
construction and 10000 under con-
tract. The building of temporary
homes had virtually ceased.
A white paper on capital invest
ment in 1948, says "the timber i'm
ported in 1948 will govern the num-
ber of houses which can be COM
pleted in 1949."
Since the beginning Of the pro-
gram, which dates back to March
81, 1945, a total Of 296,924 houses