THE  HOUSING  QUESTION

87

by  owners,  Sir  Alfred  Mond  argued  against  such  a
course  on  the  explicit  ground  that  Local  Authorities
under  Section  12  (1)  of  the  19x9  Act,  could  purchase
such  houses  compulsorily.  He  remarked  :—“  None  of
the  Members  have  dealt  with  the  question  that  under
Section  12  of  the  Housing  Act,  1919,  a  Local  Authority
can  buy  and  retain  houses  compulsorily.”
Actions,  however,  speak  louder  than  words.  Conversion ­
  of  large  houses  into  flats  has  practically  everywhere ­
  been  a  failure.  Many  Local  Authorities  must
take  their  share  of  blame  for  this,  as  the  policy  has  been
widely  resisted  by  them  on  the  grounds  that  the
neighbouring  middle-class  residents  would  object  to
the  working  classes  coming  to  live  near  them,  and
that  the  value  of  the  adjacent  property  would  be
depreciated.  But  the  Government  had  the  powers
given  to  them  by  Parliament  of  compelling  the  conversion ­
  of  these  innumerable  empty  houses  and  have
done  nothing  in  the  matter.  The  houses  are  there  and
the  poor  are  homeless.
But  the  Government’s  record  has  been  worse  than
this.  When  Local  Authorities  requested  the  Ministry
to  be  allowed  to  buy  and  convert  such  empty  houses
or  week-end  cottages,  the  Ministry  have  replied  that
they  would  only  allow  this  course  to  be  adopted  if  the
Local  Authority  paid  out  of  its  rates  the  net  cost  of
purchase  and  conversion.  This  is  a  direct  contradiction ­
  of  the  promise  given  in  the  quotation  at  the
beginning  of  this  account,  and,  indeed,  of  the  provisions ­
  of  the  Act,  which  in  Section  7  states  that  all