PREFACE 
There is no aspect of the social problem more funda 
mental than housing. The health and strength of 
the people, their efficiency, the quality of their family 
life, and even their moral standards depend largely 
upon the housing accommodation which is provided 
for them. The effects of overcrowding, of insanitary 
and badly equipped houses, of congested slum areas, 
have been the subject of detailed enquiry by Govern 
ment Committees, by scores of Medical Officers of Health 
and by many Social students. It is known that bad 
housing means a heavy loss of infant life, lowered 
vitality, the ravages of preventable diseases —in a 
word, an incalculable loss of human life, health and 
quality. All this is beyond dispute. 
The extent of the housing famine in town and 
country alike and the magnitude of the problem 
of slum clearance are now well known. After the war 
the Local Authorities in England and Wales, who after 
all are the best judges of local needs, estimated that 
800,000 houses were required. Before the year 1910 
about 75,000 new houses were built annually to com 
pensate for wear and tear, and to meet the normal 
growth of the population. If that represents the neces 
sary annual additions to the nation's housing accom 
modation, it is clear that since the investigation of 
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