VI. CONSIDERATION OF PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES AS REGARDS BUILDING.

BY COUNCILLOR H. C. LANDER, A.R.I.B.A., of Tunbridge Wells.

Acquisition of Land.

THE attempt of an Authority to acquire land for the erection of working-class dwellings is frequently met by a combination or mutual understanding on the part of owners in the neighborhood to abstain from selling to the authority, or to part with such land only at a price considerably in advance of its value.

The advantages of a good site cannot be over-estimated; but, in the event of owners being unwilling to sell, the machinery necessary for the acquisition of the required land by compulsory powers needs simplifying, as the additional expenses incurred in obtaining and enforcing compulsory powers might seriously affect the utility of the

scheme.

The consciousness on the part of landowners that the authority under the Act can only enforce a sale at some disadvantage to the scheme has emboldened them to inflict various undesirable conditions which would not have been insisted upon in the case of a private purchaser, such as requiring the erection of a high wall or close fence around the site, so that the municipal cottages might not become a nuisance to the surrounding property.

Local Government Board Memorandum.

The Local Government Board have prepared a memorandum with respect to the provision and arrangement of dwellings, when these are provided either by the local authorities themselves, or by other persons under grants, leases, or contracts to which the local authorities are party. In this memorandum the Board have summarized their views upon the more important of the principles so far as they are applicable to the erection of (a) Separate houses or cottages; (b) Buildings arranged in blocks; and (c) Lodging Houses. One important recommendation under class (a) is that the living room should have a floor-area of some 200 square feet. A large floor-area is without doubt most desirable from a sanitary point of view, and the Local Government Board have done well to indicate to the local authorities that they should not confine themselves to the reproduction of existing types of cottages; at the same time it must be borne in mind that the size specified by the Board is far in excess of the accommodation usually given in modern cottage property. Unless the municipal cottages are to become a charge upon the rates, the local authority must enter into competition with the owners of pri vate cottage property, and they are compelled to provide a cottage which to some extent will meet the demand unless they are prepared to run the risk of having their cottages stand empty. The average

working man can appreciate the advantage of an additional room, but he does not so easily recognize the desirability of large rooms over small ones if they cost him an additional shilling or two a week. The cottages belonging to a local authority should be the best of their kind; but with rooms of the size recommended by the Local Government Board it would be exceedingly difficult to provide a workable scheme.

Another clause in the same memorandum requires that "under no circumstances should the stairs rise directly from the kitchen or scullery." This, again, is sound in theory and desirable in practice where a properly lighted and ventilated lobby or passage can be provided. If, however, compliance with the letter of the recommenda tion results in ignoring its spirit, there is no gain in the end. If, for instance, one or more of the living rooms are reduced in size to provide the necessary passage-way or lobby at the foot of the stairs, and from its position the passage is dark and ill-ventilated-which often happens it might be more desirable to omit the same provided the staircase were shut off by a door at the foot and ventilated by its own window. If the space at disposal is limited, the fewer partitions and narrow passages the better. Passages almost invariably add to the cost per cottage and the width of frontage, and consequently reduce the number of cottages possible upon any given frontage.

It is unfortunate that the Board do not allow more liberty to local authorities in cases when considerable difference of opinion exists on points of detail. In at least one instance the Board have given their sanction to the loan on condition that dust-shoots are provided from the upper floors of the tenements. These dust-shoots are apt to become very foul and offensive, and by many persons sanitary dust-bins are considered decidedly preferable.

It would appear that the Local Government Board memorandum is nothing more than an expression of opinion, and that the Board do not insist upon the adoption of their own recommendations. As they stand, however, they are somewhat misleading and calculated to place unnecessary difficulties in the way of the local authority which is endeavoring to carry out the provisions of the Act.

Local Government Board Model Bye-laws.

The Local Government Board further require that the houses shall be erected in conformity with their Model Bye-laws. These Bye-laws have been adopted in most towns; but in many places, especially rural districts, the Building Bye-laws, if any exist, are of a less stringent type. In such districts the local authorities find themselves handicapped by having to build in conformity with regulations from which the private speculator is free, such as extra thickness of walls, concrete over the whole site of building, &c In this instance also the Board have acted wisely in insisting upon conformity with the more modern and in many respects improved Bye-laws. The remedy lies in the hands of the local authorities, who will naturally be at a disadvantage so long as they allow private persons to build more cheaply than they are at liberty to do themselves; at the

same time, it would be most undesirable for local authorities in rural districts to adopt the Model Bye-laws as they stand, as in some respects they are quite unsuitable for application in the country.

Under this head may be mentioned the rules laid down for the construction of the walls of domestic buildings up to 100 feet in height, which would be ridiculous in the country. The open space at the rear is altogether inadequate, and the section dealing with drainage requires re-modelling.

A Choice of Evils.

In towns and urban districts authorities attempting to carry out Part III. of the Act are limited to a choice of evils. They may either build dwellings upon sanitary principles, with a due proportion of light and air per head of the occupants, and with a proper regard to domestic convenience and requirements, regardless of cost, or they may endeavor to place within the reach of the wage-earner a dwelling which will compete with that erected by private enterprize, with the minimum of regard for the claims of health.

It is impossible to build in crowded districts so that both requirements may be fulfilled. Authorities have hitherto abandoned the first and adopted the second alternative.

In order to make the most of the land, buildings are carried up to a great height, with the result that many more people are housed per acre than formerly. High buildings are very objectionable; they entail much more work of a tiring kind in carrying food and other goods up to the respective floors, and the stairs are very trying, especially to old people. High buildings prevent the proper circulation of air and admission of light to the lower floors and surrounding streets and yards. Statistics point to the fact that the death-rate is highest on the lowest floors and decreases towards the top.

Legal Overcrowding.

Existing law permits overcrowding on area to an alarming extent. In many instances, old rookeries were far superior in point of air space to the new model dwellings which have replaced them.

The London Building Act, 1894, permits the erection of high block dwellings with an insufficient air space in yards and areas attached thereto.

The opportunities of legal overcrowding under the abovementioned Act, and the tendency of public bodies to avail themselves of the same, are shown by the recent competition for plans of tenement blocks to be erected on the Millbank plot by the London County Council. The first prize in this competition was awarded to a set of designs which provided accommodation at the rate of 481 persons per acre, or about 163 persons per acre in excess of the Council's earlier buildings on the Bethnal Green site, or nearly nine times the density of persons per acre in the whole of London.

The importance of these figures-supplied by Mr. Robert Williams -must be evident when it is borne in mind that, other things being equal, the denser the population, the higher the death-rate.

Cost of Materials.

The present high and rising cost of materials and labor adds considerably to the difficulties of erecting dwellings which will compete successfully with those built some years ago, and letting them at reasonable rents. Unavoidable delays invariably result in an advance of prices.

Contractor versus Works Department.

The usual method of obtaining tenders for the erection of proposed dwellings by open competition is undesirable. Incompetent, and even bankrupt firms, submit estimates, and undertake (in spite of the usual references and guarantees) to carry out work which they are unable to complete, and delay and inconvenience result. Contractors of repute and standing object to submitting estimates in competition with cutting firms of doubtful reputation.

When the work is undertaken by the local authority itself, without the intervention of a contractor, the resulting buildings are of better quality and workmanship, and if building operations are undertaken upon a sufficiently large scale, and with a competent staff, can be built more cheaply than through a builder. In small towns and country districts where no suitable organization exists, it is doubtful whether any saving can be effected in cost. The principle is sound, and where none exists, a works department upon a small scale should be started in connection with every local authority, and allowed to develop as opportunity offers. Such a department, in course of time, would be able to undertake the carrying out of all building operations required by the authority with great benefit to the public.

Cottages and Tenements.

A comprehensive municipal housing scheme for the working classes will include dwellings of all types to suit the requirements of large and small families. In no case is it desirable that the dwelling should consist of less than three rooms-a living room, a bed room, and a scullery. The last may be quite small, so long as the sink is not actually in the living room. This type is provided for single persons or for married couples without children who would otherwise be obliged to take lodgings or a larger house than they required and let off the remainder. The cost of such a dwelling, if erected as a separate cottage, would be prohibitive. The only alternative is to combine two or more such dwellings under the same roof as tenements, and, even so, the cost per room generally compares unfavorably with that of the cottage unless the tenement buildings are of great size, which is very undesirable, especially in the country. The common staircase is a necessary evil of the tenement building. If each class of dwellings is self-supporting, the man with the largest family being forced to occupy a cottage of the largest type, finds that in addition to having to bring up a large family, he has the further responsibility of the heaviest rent, together with the consciousness that, should the number of inmates exceed that allowed per cottage

by the local authority, he may, in the event of there being no other municipal cottage available, be obliged to take his family after all to some slum-dwelling where overcrowding is allowed.

In many cases the rent of the cottage is able to be paid only with the assistance of the wage-earning children, whose education suffers accordingly.

General Conclusions.

The success of a Housing scheme depends very largely upon the amount of enthusiasm which the officials, particularly the surveyor to the local authority, throw into it. The opposition is always considerable, and can only be met by an equal amount of municipal energy, which can be greatly assisted and directed by officials in sympathy with the scheme.

The facilities for acquiring land need simplifying.

If the term for the repayment of the loan were extended to, say, eighty years for the houses and 100 years on the land, the problem would be rendered much less difficult.

Unnecessary and irksome building regulations should be avoided, and those which are considered desirable should be binding equally upon municipalities and private owners. The number of persons to be housed per acre should be limited, and the minimum of light and air greatly increased.

Great annoyance and delay might be avoided if applications to the Local Government Board could receive prompt attention.

Local authorities should have power to erect houses outside their own area with direct systems of tram or other communication. Accommodation for single men and women can be provided more cheaply in the lodging-house, but the comforts of the home are wanting.

No satisfactory scheme of housing has yet been devised with rents within the reach of the poorest members of Society.

The question of free cottages is not yet within the realm of practical politics.