20 
THE HOUSING QUESTION 
“ Our own estimate, our own figures, inadequate as we believe 
they are, are tor 400,000 houses here and now." 
Lt.-Col. Fremantle, M.P. (Chairman of the Housing 
Committee, London County Council, and a Coalition 
Member), in the House of Commons, nth May, 1921 
"The requirements in the matter of housing at the present 
time are appalling, and it is absurd to say otherwise. It is quite 
certain that the general requirements—without taking into 
account any question as to improvement of status or condition— 
represent a total of something like a million houses throughout 
the United Kingdom. This is increasing at the rate of 70,000 
or 80,000 houses a year, and we have not even got to the stage of 
keeping pace with that requirement, still less of making up the 
arrears.” 
Such were the admissions of the Government. 
Now to get at the facts :— 
The net needs of the country, as assessed by the 
Local Authorities in October, 1919, in accordance with 
the statutory duty placed upon them by the Housing 
Act, 1919, were (according to figures supplied by the 
National Housing and Town Planning Council) 
For England and Wales ... 796,246 
For Scotland H5.5 6 5 
Total for Great Britain ... 911,811 
From these figures must be deducted about 100,000 
working-class houses built in the last 2\ years. But an 
addition more than equivalent to this number must be 
made owing to the wastage of houses and growth of 
population in the same period. The above net needs 
probably, therefore, fully hold good to-day.