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THE  HOUSING  QUESTION

(4)  Institute  a  Central  or  Regional  Building  Department  on
the  lines  of  the  Ministry  of  Munition  Building  Departments  in  the
war.  Consult  Local  Authorities  as  to  plans  and  amenities,  but,
wherever  the  Local  Council  are  not  putting  their  best  foot  foremost,
let  the  Government  carry  out  the  actual  building  themselves.
Houses  would  then  be  delivered  as  promptly  and  numerously
as  shells  in  the  war.
(5)  Guard  against  the  return  of  that  rise  of  price,  which  nearly
killed  the  schemes  in  1920,  by  :—
(a)  Spread  the  period  of  building  over  a  far  longer  period  ;
10  years  for  new  houses  and  10  more  years  for  slum  clearance
would  not  be  too  long.
(6)  Make  use  of  building  by  Direct  Labour  of  Local  Authorities, ­
  by  Building  Guilds,  and  by  the  Office  of  Works  itself,  in
order  to  check  any  excessive  tenders  by  local  contractors,  and
to  stimulate  true  competition.  During  1919  and  1920  building
contractors  killed  competition  and  raised  prices  by  private
agreements  in  their  federations.
(c)  Stop  local  “  luxury  ”  building  or  repairs,  where  local
housing  schemes  were  not  making  proper  progress.
Such  measures  would  shew  that  a  Government
meant  business.  There  would  occasionally  be  local
friction  and  outcry.  Councillors  who  were  trying,  for
reasons  of  their  own,  to  stop  housing,  would  complain
that  officials  from  London  or  from  the  centre  of  a
Region  were  dictating  to  them,  but  once  the  Nation
saw  that  the  houses  were  really  going  up  and  the
slums  really  being  removed,  the  Government  would
have  all  the  support  it  required.
Let  us  recall  the  words  of  the  King  on  April  nth,
1919,  at  Buckingham  Palace,  when  he  addressed  the