United Kingdom Government Wants New Life And Energy In Housing Programme

Wanganui Chronicle, 18 May 1950, Page 5

United Kingdom Government Wants New Life And Energy In Housing Programme

New Minister Of Works May Bring New Approach To Problem

LONDON, May 17 (Rec. 7.10 pm).-—Under the leadership of the new Minister of Works, Mr. Stolees. wlTo has a highly successful record in private business, the Government is expected to make strenuous efforts to inject new life and energy into the housing programme.

There is a great deal of restiveness in all parts of the country over the lag in house building, and the Labour Party undoubtedly feels that this is one of its most vulnerable points. It will certainly make an effort to improve matters before the next election.

Mr. Stokes has already made an energetic start by calling for proposals from both sides of the b’tilding industry to increase the speed and reduce the cost of housing construction. He has used as his reason for this the recommendations of "he Anglo-Ameri-can Council of Productivity of Building, which recently strongly criticised both the speed and the cost of British building when compared with American.

The report was in the lam’s of the Government before Mr. Attlee chose his new Cabinet, and it is assumed that Mr. Stokes was appointed Minis ter of Works chiefly to deal with recommendations in the report. These emphasised the need for somo adequate system of incentives in the building trade, and also for the early removal of unnecessary controls. The Government, through the new Minister of Town and Country Planning, Dr. Hugh Da’.fon, has made a start upon reducing controls, and it is now Mr. Stokes’ turn to introduce some satisfactory system of incentives.

Mr. Stokes has already had onemeeting with representatives of building employers and employees, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Institute of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of Chartered Sur-

veyors, and has asked them, to prepare detailed plans for his consideration at another meeting to be held on May 26.

The national house-building programme is, of course, restricted by the need for rationing capital investment, but even so Mr. Stokes is reported to hold the view that the output of houses can be increased by at least .30,000 a year by improving efficiency. One of the chief complaints of private builders has hitherto been that frequent changes in the Government's housing policy and programme have made it impossible for them to develop long-range building plans and belter building technique. This complaint. has at. least been partly met by the undertaking, given by Sir Stafford Cripps in his last Budget speech, that the building programme for the next ihrpp years will he stabilised at 200.000 houses a year, ’’’■•-'stokes’ objective is to increase this figure by 30,000 to 50,000 houses a year without increasing the levy made upon capital investment funds and labour.

The situation which has developed in some areas is emphasis ’d by the report Issued by the Scottish Housing Advisory Committee. This contends that at the present rate of housin’ construction some families wno have applied for council house;, in the larger Scottish towns will have to wait from 12 to 25 years before they get them. By that time the report points out. a family consisting of parents in their early thirties with a daughter of 10 and a son of 7 will have turned into a middle -aged couple whose children are awav from home or who have a mart'®'’ ■’’lighter and her first child living with them.— Special Correspondent, N.Z.P.A