BRITISH HOUSES FOR AMERICANS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27875, 25 January 1956, Page 13

BRITISH HOUSES FOR AMERICANS

Payment With Surplus

Produce

(Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, January 24. Contracts have been placed for 1500 houses which the Air Ministry is to have built for the United States Third Air Force in Britain and which the United States Defence Department will pay for with surplus American flour and cigarette tobacco valued at £5,357.000. says “The Times” The houses will provide accommodation for married American airmen serving in Britain and for their families. The provision of sufficient satisfactory married accommodation is a big problem for the Third Air Force largely because its bases are in rural areas. The new houses will be distributed among about 16 American bases and will be rented for the nominal sum of £1 a year while remaining the freehold property of the British Government.

The houses have been designed to American specifications and will include central heating. They will be semi-detached houses with two or three bedrooms.

, A Defence Department statement describes the arrangement as “unique” and adds that it has the dual advantage of saving dollars and disposing of agricultural surpluses. When Americans no longer require them, the houses will be available for British families.