THE HOUSING PROBLEM.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17294, 4 November 1921, Page 7

THE HOUSING PROBLEM.

ACUTE IN U.S.A. (FROM OTTR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) SAN FRANCISCO, October 4. The Uoherinjj in of the month ol October witnessed a nation-wide series of near-riots between the heads of families renting houses and apartments in most of the bis cities of the United States on the one hand, and the owners of the premises on the other. The latter availed themselves of the opportunity of afcain boosting the rents demanded for the'use of their property, when leasing day arrived and many residents of such rooms were ahnout driven to resort to violence upon the avaricious rent hog who appears to becoming more unbearable us month succeeds month. It is admitted that there i 9 a general tendency throughout the American centres of population for the "City Fathers" to increase the annual taxes, but whereas these tax increments have been but fractional, the landlords have seized the opportunity to materially raise the rentals for their property. Instances without number have been cited where taxes have increased but two per cent., whilst the owner of the property has 6kyrocketted the rentals as nigh as 20 per cent! In the case of apartment buildings, the cost of help has been reduced by the lowering of wages, but rents have gone up irrespective of this fact. " Students of the problem generally agree that ruralists are still pouring into the towns and cities, thereby aggravating the housing problem. _ It is true that the building industry is improving, but the few score houses that are being erected in individual cities I are totally insufficient to co;:e with the movement of population citywards. In almost any city visited there are signs of ancient uninhabited .houses being "fixed up," and readily rented, at phenpmetiial prices, thereby bringing in returns to the owners. In most of the American cities it is practically impossible to obtain a satisfactory habitation of a few rooms at a reasonable figure, rents now averaging twice to three times the scale of four years ago. The unexplained mystery is how the people manage to pay such exorbitant rentals when it is recognised that wages and salaries have materially fallen in the last few months and the cost of living is daily mounting again. Directly the landlord gives notice of an increase in rent the weary tramp of the occupier commences, and frequently a whole rnontth passes without the possibility of a suitable place appearing on the horizon, despite tne daily search for a home. Some searchers have gone as far as to offer rewards of 25 dollars for information leading to obtaining a suitable habitation. Savings Soon Disappear. The situation is rapidly becoming a most serious one nationally, for the savings of the people are quickly disappearing in meeting the selfish, demands of the '"rent-hogs," who are legion in number. While landlords and tenants in the big cities, however, strike their traditional attitude, the National Industrial Conference Board has been spreading the encouraging news that rents in many communities actually have declined ono whole per cent, in the past year. Moreover, says the Board, the contemplated rise in other cities has been checked for the time being. This statement is a ludicrous joke at the time, of writing, for, in many cases, the published statistics are generally entirely . out-of-date, and when they appear in the Press conditions have usually become the direct opposite to when the Government statistician took tys bearings. ' In New York City alone over 25,000 tenants were notified of an increase in rental commencing on October Ist. In Cincinnati rent extortion is the rule rather than the exception, and there seems to be no immediate prospect for reduction in rents, according to the "Enquirer" of that city. When a solution of the nation-wide housing shortage is sought, the "New York Globe" finds that "with builders and workmen at odds over wages, and financial interests afraid to gamble on present construction costs, the only solution appears to be to build your own house." The real estate dealers actually are revelling in the present housing shortage, and almost to a man they strongly advise the applicant for rooms to "build a home." Unfortunately, the applicant does not generally have the price to pay for the exorbitant figure now demanded for the quickly-thrown-together bungalow Or .cottage which springs up in a few weeks in some of the tracts that are being developed within the limits of some of the average American townships. These buildings frequently are of shoddy construction, but have a deceptive finish, prepared to persuade the prospective buyer to purchase. Some of these" jerry-builders are making fortunes by erecting such "homes" for speculative purposes. The people are in such a tight corner that they are virtually compelled to purchase one of these homes or seek out a reliable builder of their own acquaintance. A typical instance might be cited where a contractor of recognised standing bought a building site, of 60 feet by 100 feet for 1600 dollare, and on it erected a five-room-and-bath one-story house of plain style. The building itself, according to an estimate of an independent architect, would cost but 5500 dollars to erect, but the builder easily sold the property complete for dollars, making a snug profit of nearly 6000 dollars, and all inside ten weeks! This man works under the so-called ''American plan," which system consists of the employer paying the smallest wage he can force the workman to accept, and consequently it is now possible for .''such a contractor to even augment his already large profits by "squeezing" down, the workman's weekly wage. Oarages More Important. In the American cities where building lots are but 25 feet frontage, owners of old houses situate thereon are brightening up their properties, and are including-a garage in the basement of the house, either at the sidewalk level or obtaining depth by grading the pathway down to the required level. Evidently the aged owners of these properties of ancient vintage anticipate becoming owners of "Tin Lizzies," or expect to rent their garages to a neighbour. Judging by the number of house, garages that are now being incorporated in the American home, m a few months' time everybody should be careering around in automobiles, ! and the tramcars and passenger trains I will become superfluous. The Secretary of Labour, a native-born Welshman named Davis, announced. recently that more houses for automobiles than human beings were built in the United : States in 1920.