HOUSING QUESTION

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LI, Issue 8273, 27 April 1923, Page 3

HOUSING QUESTION

BILL IN HOUSE OF COMMONS. Press Assoc. By Tel. Copyright. Aust—N.Z. Cable Assoc. Rec. April 26, 9.55 a.m. London, April 25. Mr Neville Chamberlain, in moving the second reading of the Housing Bill, in the House of Commons, said the origin of housing shortagein Britain dated back to 1909. Between then and the war the annual provision of small houses fell from 80,000 to 46,000, but at the outbreak of wai 1 30,000 houses were empty. Before 1909 private builders had elaborate machinery, under which building from savings could be financed by tradesmen, clerks and artisans, but the confidence underlying that machinery was first shaken and then shattered, not so much by Mr Lloyd George’s 1909 Budget but by Mr Lloyd George's campaign of devastating eloquence in connection with that Budget. The small builder must be reinstated; hence the plan to assist him by means of subsidies. Fortunately private building was now functioning again, and costs were declining. The Bill proposed subsidies; Firstly to local authorities for building schemes; secondly, to assist people to build their own houses. He did not expect that the Bill would enable arrears of building to be overtaken in a couple of years, but he believed it would encourage private enterprise and stimulate a general desire a nIOU S the people to own their houses. The debate was adjourned.