Housing

Question 1

Addison Housing Act

Answer 1

In 1918, 400,000 homes in GB are acclaimed unfit for living -> Addison
Homes for Heroes had been a universal promise during the General Election of 1918. Everyone agreed that more and better houses should be provided.
In 1919, Addison, Minister of Health implements his Housing Act. Addison merely told Local Authorities to build unlimited houses and to let them at the equivalent of controlled rents, which were fixed at the 1914 level. Government would automatically meet, by subsidy, any cost over a 1d local rate i.e. the government would make up the financial difference between the cost of building the house and the money that could be raised in rent

Question 2

Successes of Addison Housing Act

Answer 2

1. Built 213k homes many for people who could not afford them -> established the principle that housing was a social service and later governments had to take up his task, though they tried to avoid his mistakes
2. Local authorities became instruments for housing policy of the state and acquired new functions in social service

Question 3

Failures of Addison Housing Act

Answer 3

1. Early in 1921 paying £910 for houses which a year or so later could be built for £385 each -> caused an outcry against this waste of public money
2. July 1921, grants for new houses were sharply limited and in 1922 they were stopped as a result of the Geddes Axe
   the last houses to be built under the programme were completed in 1923
3. Shortage of houses had not been tackled. 1923 it was estimated at 822k -> worse than in 1919 with increasing number of couples getting married
4. The homes also became known as “homes only heroes would agree to live in”
5. Only achieved half it’s target of 400, 000

Question 4

Chamberlain Housing Act

Answer 4

1923. Act intended to stimulate private enterprise building and to reduce subsidy levels payable to local authorities (as a reaction to the levels under the Addison Act).
      Lump sum payment to be given to private builders by councils, who were then compensated by receiving a fixed payment of £6 per house from the Treasury for twenty years.
      A 50% subsidy was available for re-housing costs associated with slum clearance

Question 5

Successes of Chamberlain Housing Act

Answer 5

A total of 438,000 houses were built under this Act; of this figure, 75,309 were erected by local authorities for letting, with 362,738 erected by private enterprise nearly all for sale

Question 6

Conservatives 1951-64 Successes

Answer 6

1. Presided over a housing boom
2. Breached targets of 300k in 1953 and 1954 with 327k and 354k which also surpasses Labour totals
3. 1956 Housing Subsidies Act Funds were only made available for slum clearance and housing provision for slum dwellers.
4. The rate of public building fell off rapidly.
5. Building Societies were given more Government funds to make bigger loans for purchase and improvement of pre-1919 houses.

Question 7

The Housing Act and the Rent Act in 1957

Answer 7

Relaxed control of rent for landlords with the intention that they would use the extra revenue to improve their properties.

Question 8

Failures of The Housing Act and the Rent Act in 1957

Answer 8

This ‘landlords charter’ meant that landlords were able to line their pockets and exploit the poor tenants.

Question 9

House Purchase and Housing Act

Answer 9

1959 Act geared to policy of developing owner-occupation and increasing the improvement of older housing.

Question 10

Successes of House Purchase and Housing Act 1959

Answer 10

Introduced a new system of standard grants towards the cost of providing the five standard amenities: i.e. a fixed bath or shower, a wash-hand basin, a hot water supply, a water closet in or contiguous to the dwelling, satisfactory facilities for storage of food.

Question 11

Wheatley’s Housing Act

Answer 11

1924. This Act provided generous subsidies to stimulate the growth of municipal housing: £9 a house for forty years was given as a subsidy.
      Local authorities no longer had to show private enterprise was inadequate before progressing its own capital house building programme.
      The rate contribution was to be half of the £9 figure.
      Aimed to help Working Classes

Question 12

Successes of Wheatley’s Housing Act 1924

Answer 12

1. 521, 700 houses were built under the Act
2. This Act led to large scale council housing provision for the first time
3. Recognised the housing shortage as a long-term problem

Question 13

Failures of Wheatley’s Housing Act 1924

Answer 13

1. Government failed to impose effective rent controls; rent strikes in Glasgow and London
2. As no rebates for rent were yet in existence, however, many poorer households did not gain access to the good quality housing produced under this Act

Question 14

Greenwood Housing Act

Answer 14

1930. Previous Acts failed to deal properly with the problem of general slum clearance.
      The Act of 1930 (known as the Greenwood Act), aimed to remedy this. A subsidy was made available to local authorities of £2.50 for forty years for each person re-housed through the slum clearance schemes

Question 15

Successes of Greenwood Housing Act

Answer 15

1. Led to slum clearance being tackled.

2. Focus was on dealing with health/sanitary issues

Question 16

Successes of Labour 1945 and Housing

Answer 16

1. Labour governments of 1945-51 are usually judged to be successful having built over 1 million new homes, 80% of which are council houses.
2. There were 1 million new homes, which did go over the number recommended in the White Paper of 1942
3. They were good as they were relatively cheap to build and provided a lot of new, easily assembled housing.
4. Private house building was restricted due to shortage of materials - council houses had priority,
5. Given social and economic circumstances of the time with a war economy, shortage of building materials and skilled workers, Labour should not be judged too harshly on the issue. They did manage to build at least 200, 000 a year and these houses were of a better standard than previous social housing
6. Helped to address the issue of squalor

Question 17

Weaknesses of Labour 1945 and Housing

Answer 17

1. Labour faced huge housing problems which they did not totally overcome.
2. Lack of raw materials and bureaucracy in Whitehall slowed building projects down as 10 ministers were needed to approve new building projects
3. There was an outbreak of squatting because so many people were unable to find adequate accommodation
4. Government was forced to rely on prefab housing because the need was so great
5. 1951 census showed that there were still 750, 000 fewer houses than households
6. Their record does not compare favourably with pre-war records of house building
7. There was still a serious shortage of houses by the end of Labour’s period in office - the recovery in this area was lower than expected but there were some achievements