Housing Problems In Britain

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30196, 30 July 1963, Page 12

Housing Problems In Britain

The British public appear justified in wondering when the seamy revelations resulting from the Profumo affair will end. Had Mr Profumo's errors led solely to the exposure of property racketeering by the Polishborn Peter Rachman, enough would have been accomplished to embarrass the Government seriously and to precipitate a major review of housing policy throughout Britain as well as in London. Rachman acquired his wealth by exploiting a combination of social problems that are likely to survive him for a long time. By resort to violence and unscrupulous tactics he circumvented the rent legislation and provided slum lodgings at exorbitant charges for an astonishing variety of white undesirables as well as for coloured immigrants whom popular prejudice and economic insecurity left little choice of homes. Among his more notable feats was the letting of a £ 1500 house for £ 10.000 a year. It is estimated that in five years Rachman made more than £1 million; and he paid no taxes. Through perfectly legal channels Rachman deposited most of his fortune in a Swiss bank. Evidence of his activities has been elusive, because of the fear that he aroused in timorous and ignorant tenants. The death of Rachman did not mean the end of the evils on which he battened; Rachman was only one of his kind, and the vicious conditions that he and his like have fostered still exist in London and other British cities.

If present trends continue, Britain will have a population of 70 million long before the end of the twentieth century. Though the Government’s legislative controls on immigration have reduced the inflow of non-Europeans, particularly from the West Indies and Pakistan, Britain has an unmistakeable colour problem, which aggravates social tensions, contributes to crime, and promotes the degeneration of reasonably good suburbs into slums. The housing shortage exerts its undesirable influence not only in London but in

other cities as well; and unless the attractions of life in the northern counties are enhanced the drift of population southwards will'add to the gravity of the situation in London. A recent article in the “ Spectator ” graphically indicated how appalling that situation already is. Although (as the article points out) a concerted attack by decent tenants on housing abuses can yield satisfactory results, much wider remedies will be necessary. At various times Rachman was able to escape legal reprisals by the London Metropolitan Police, the Ministry of Housing, the Paddington Borough Council, the public health authorities, and various rent tribunals. The inference is that other slum landlords have done likewise, though not all have operated on such an extensive scale. Until more new houses are built in Britain, slum clearance must lag. On May 28 the Minister of Housing (Sir Keith Joseph) predicted confidently that the housing shortage would be over in 10 years. Plans outlined in a White Paper set a target of 350,000 new houses annually. By Continental standards this target is modest. Largely, it is to be attained through the activities of a Governmentsponsored housing corporation, designed to stimulate the development of housing societies which will provide houses on a basis of coownership and also for letting. This scheme has been praised by many who cite the success of similar arrangements in Scandinavia and Germany. According to Labour critics, however, the scheme will produce no more than 15,000 houses a year and will do little to ease the pressure on rented accommodation The Government’s programme has also been attacked on the ground that insufficient attention is paid to regional planning and development. During recent weeks the inefficiency of rent controls has been dramatically demonstrated; but the real solution—an adequate supply of good homes —cannot be quickly supplied.