HOUSING PROBLEM

Evening Star, Issue 21965, 27 February 1935, Page 7

HOUSING PROBLEM

HOW IT SHOULD BE MET MANY FLATS OR COTTAGES 7 AN URGENT QUESTION One of the most important and urgent questions that have arisen in connection with the clearance of the slum* is that of the kind of new house which is to be built, writes Sir Ernest Simon in the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ . Are the families ‘to be rehoused on the site, which generally involves tenemeuc blocks, or are they to be housed in cottages in the outer parts of the city ?. Or perhaps the problem is better stated as follows: —What proportion of the population should be rehoused on the site and what proportion in suburban cottages? In discussing this matter it must be remembered that there are all kinds of interests which are adversely affected when slum residents are moved to other, parts of the city. has been moso prominently brought before the public by the agitation of the shopkeepers whose trade is damaged or ruined owing to the removal of their customers. Bin; there are others who suffer, landlords, property owners, owners of public houses, and places of entertainment. It is true that*there are many publicspirit ’ persons in all these classes who are ready to accept financial loss if they think it to the benefit of the slum dwellers to be moved, but there are others who are prepared to spend a good deal of money in agitating, for the sake of their own pockets, to secure That the maximum possible proportion of the slum population shall be rehoused on the present sites. OPPORTUNITY. There is another interest which is not without its importance. Housing directors are themselves frequently architects. and are certainly influenced by the architects in their office. A great tenement block, including a few hundred flats, is a fine opportunity for an architect; witness the beautiful and impressive tenements of Vienna. A suburban housing estate gives much less scope. There must therefore be an unconscious and perhaps legitimate bias in the minds of many architect housing directors towards rehousing in tenement blocks rather than in cottages. We must be careful to weigh the arguments on their merits and to disregard propaganda. There are two main aspects of the problem. The first is the convenience and health of the tenant; the second is cost. Let us begin by dealing with the former. Few people doubt that the separate cottage, standing in its own garden, provides by far the best housing for a family. Everybody knows the type of cottage which the city council is now building; it can be seen at its best in Wythenshawe; convenient, healthy, and beautiful. Perhaps the most important aspect of the new housing estates are the gardens and open spaces. . Land is cheap and adequate; open spaces and playing fields can be provided for adults as well as playing grounds for the children. OF IMPORTANCE. And the garden itself is of first-rate importance. One can go to almost any of the 20,000 municipal houses in Manchester and find that the tenant spends many pleasant hours in his garden, produces beautiful flowers, and has a real pride and happiness in his work. Large numbers of back gardens are devoted to vegetables and produce crops which are of real value. It is estimated that the retail price of the produce of a food garden may amount to £3 or £4 a, year. Not only so, but fresh, homegrown * vegetables are more appetising than those bought in shops, and the children tend to eat more ot them, with advantage to their health. How does the tenement block compare with the cottage? The design ot blocks of really comfortable flats iop the middle classes has been studied for many years; nobody denies that they are completely successful. The design of blocks for working-class families, which, owing to the limitation ot finance, is a much difficult problem, is only now beginning to be studied with the care it deserves. But there is no doubt that progress is being made. There is, of course, no difficulty about the flat itself; as a dwelling it can be made just as good as and perhaps more convenient than a separate cottage. The problem is one or surroundings. One aspect of this is a lack of privacy. In the old blocks a family wag never alone, in the best modern blocks there is a good deal of privacy, but it can never be quite the same thing as one’s own cottage standing in one’s own garden. AIR AND SUNSHINE. Secondly, there is the question of air and sunshine. Here, again, there is great improvement, but even the best design of tenement block can hardly give the amount of sunshine and air which a well-designed cottage _ gets. And blocks in the centre of the city are in the midst of smoke and fog, whereas the cottages are in clean air. Unless and until the city gets rid of its pall of smoke the advantages of suburban living must remain enormous. Thirdly, there is the question ot noise. Lorries and trams cannot be avoided in the centre of the city, and. with forty dwellings ■to the acre in tenement blocks the noise caused _ by children must always be a serious trouble. Fourthlv, and most important of all, there is the question of gardens, open spaces, and playgrounds. In the central blocks the only possible. substitute for a garden is a window-box, in which flowers will struggle feebly against sulphurous air. Much can be done. Flat roofs are suggested as playgrounds for the smallest children. Creches and. nursery schools should-be provided. The whole question of providing communal services for communities of several hundred families is a new one, opening up interesting possibilities which hare been more thoroughly explored on the Continent than here.. So impressed were the members of the Birmingham City Council who visited the Continent in 1930 by the value of these services that their final conclusion was as follows; “ Notwithstanding all we have seen, we are unanimously of the opinion that the most satisfactory system for housing the people . . V is the single or selfcontained house with its own plot ot garden ground attached thereto. All the towns we visited;,without exception, asquiesce in this view. When, however, circumstances compel consideration of other methods .'-■.. our investigations have satisfied us that both adults and young children can be housed quite satisfactorily, comfortably, and happily in flat or tenement dwellings under perfectly healthy conditions, provided the necessary amenities are included within the scope of the scheme,”