BRITISH HOUSING BILL

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21387, 1 February 1935, Page 11

BRITISH HOUSING BILL

SECOND READING MOVED AMBITIOIS PLAN SLIM CLEARANCE (BRITISH OFI'ICIAL VUBKLB-5-0 (Received January 31 ; 5.5 p.m.) RUGBY. January 30. Moving the second reading of the Housing Bill in the House of Commons, the Minister for Health (Su Hilton Young) said it marked an urgently-needed step forward in a great social reform. The Government's programme lor dealing witn the evils of slums and overcrowding had developed in sla f c The campaign against slums « been successfully launched. ■ organisation period was over di they were now seeing the tirsi u suits of the work based upon l . In the last year fur which lie had full records the number fo» whom rehousing arrangements ha been undertaken amounted v 300,000 people. During January oJUU new houses for rehousing stumdwellers had been erected anci within five vears the rehousing o 1,250,000 people would be completed. , , The second stage was a uuev . a,, tack on the evil of overcrowding, a great but not unmanageable problem. The first essential was thai of arriving at a national staiu aiti of what overcrowding was. 1 his had been agreed upon. A survey would be made giving lor tne lirsi. time accurate knowledge of the extent of this evil. The next essential was the presentation of schemes by local authorities for the provision of necessary accommodation in houses and m hats of three or four storeys. The bill would give power to pull down and reconstruct or recondition property, but the rehousing schemes must be carried out in Hose to the proposed schemes !•<•' townplanning as a whole The bill would make it a n. , .i;a!l.v punishable offence after an appointed day to overcrowd a house in excess of the fixed .standard. General subsidies were rot intended, but would be Riven hi eases where housing oulhorilies represented that Kiev could not without such assn-tance _ provide small houses at inclusive rents of about 10s a week in towns and from 3s to as in rural areas. He emphasised Ihe v;ilue ol the work expected of public utility societies, whose efforts should be encouraged to the utmost.