A RECORD YEAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 11

A RECORD YEAR

HOUSING IN ENGLAND AND

WALES

NEW STANDARD SET

(British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, December-30. A return issued >by the Ministry of Health shows that more houses were built in England and Wales in th« year ended September 30 than in any; previous year. The total numbes erected was 339,538—m0re by 10,000 than the previous high record for any; yearly period. The return also discloses tha* 3,146,946 houses have been • built in l England and Wales since the Armistica and '.at there has been steady and unbroken progress in the housing activities of local authorities. During tha past half-year 36,756 houses were c"°cted by local authorities, compared with the previous high record of 36,737. The total number of houses completed by private enterprise during tha period under review was 274,348, as compared with the record of 275,069. Within the Greater London area tha num 1 er of houses constructed far exceeded that recorded in any othej) p- ' of the country.

Sir Harold Bellman, chairman of the Building Societies' Association, dealing with the housing outlook in, the New Year, suggests that there may soon be some falling off in building by unassisted private enterprise. Probably, however, there will be no precipitous decline. On the other hand, the local authorities' output under* slum clearance and overcrowding legislation is likely to increase. Sir Harold adds that the new standard of accommodation has been the most significant feature of houses built during the recent boom. The public conception of the acceptance of housing standards has quietly and unostentatiously undergone a genuine revolution in the past decade. New standards and new surroundings have been demanded, and he believe:: that, given good general economic conditions, this will con tinue to be the determining factor r the housing outlook.