lbO
CREFELD.
per room per annum, but the rents of dwellings of two rooms are proportionately
higher than those of three and four rooms. Attic rooms usually cost from
£l to £1 05. On the outskirts rents are naturally lower.
Rents in general have risen during the past three years, and they are
understood to be still rising. The combined action of the house-owners would
appear to be in part responsible for this, though a further reason is the admitted
insufficiency of dwellings. At a recent meeting of the Town Council the
Mayor estimated the number of empty dwellings in the town in October, 1906,
at OT) per cent., though from 2 to 3 per cent, is regarded as a normal excess of
supply above demand. The entire number of unoccupied dwellings of all kinds
was 152, yet he added : “ If the house market was normal there should be from
370 to 630 more empty dwellings. It is, therefore, proved that a considerable
deficiency of dwellings exists ; the supply in nowise corresponds to a normal
state of things.” Rents are, however, slightly lower at Crefeld than at any of
the other ten towns in the Rhenish-Westphalian district which are included in
the scope of this enquiry. Taking rents at Berlin as 100, the index number
for Crefeld is 52.
The following Table shows the range of predominant rents paid by
working-class households, but it should be observed that the rent of rooms on
the ground floor is usually slightly lower than those for the first floor, since the
ground floor tenants, in addition to being more disturbed, have also to clean the
pavement in front of the house :—
Number of Rooms per Tenement.
Two rooms
Three rooms
Four rooms
Predominant Weekly Rent.
2s. 11c?. to 3s. 6c?.
3s. 6c?. to 4s. 7c?.
4s. 4c?. to 5s. 2c?.
There is a building society for the erection of workmen’s dwellings, which
works at a maximum rate of interest of 4 per cent., and it has at present 128
dwellings in 25 houses. Usually the dwellings are of three rooms, though there
are some of four and two rooms, and the rents range from £3 155. to £4 10s.
a year for each room.
It may be added that the typical weavers’ house outside Crefeld is of only
one story, with a deep sloping roof containing one or two attics, whose windows
are at the sides. The houses are of half-timber work or “Fachwerk,” often
faced with slates ; they stand sometimes alone in a small garden (these houses
are a relic of the early days of the weaving industry), and sometimes in long
rows. Usually there is one large room in front (the old weaving room) and
one or two rooms at the back. The establishment of factories in these districts
has resulted in a demand for more houses, and a number have been built by
employers. Valuable work has also been done by the Public Utility Building
Society for the Rural District of Crefeld, which, after building a number of
houses for two or more families, is now considering the advisability of adopting
the one-family house as its general rule. The majority of the dwellings consist
of four rooms or more.
The municipal addition to the State income tax is at present at the rate of
180 per cent. The Church rates vary considerably according to the denominations
and parishes ; the Roman Catholics pay an addition to the State incometax
of from 15 to 60 per cent., the members of the Evangelical Church from 17
to 35 per cent., the “ Old Catholics ” 25 per cent., and the Jews 37 per cent, sg
Retail Prices.
Groceries and other Commodities.
Although the wages of the Crefeld working classes have increased of late
years, the cost of living has increased likewise, though it is generally admitted
that there has been a distinct improvement in the standard of life all round.
There is a large market hall, and open markets are also held in the streets, but
these serve in the main for farm and country produce, and the working classes
obtain their grocery supplies for the most part from small dealers. There is a
Co-operative Society with four shops and a membership in March, 1906, of
1,268, but its total sales in 1905-6 were under £11,000. Apart from this the
