HOUSING BILL. (Hansard, 8 July 1914)

§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of AGRICULTURE (Mr. Runciman)

I beg to move, "That leave be given to introduce a Bill to give the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries powers with respect to the housing in agricultural districts of persons belonging to the working classes, and to make provision with respect to the housing of persons employed by or on behalf of Government Departments where sufficient dwelling accommodation is not available."

I should not have risen to ask leave to introduce this Bill at this late date of the Session had it been of a highly contentious nature, but there are some directions in which the Departments require power, if they are to carry out the declared inten- 1096 tion of the Government to proceed with rural housing, not along the lines already authorised by Statute, or by depending on private enterprise to exercise powers which the Government think can properly be exercised by the Board of Agriculture, the Local Government Board, and the Board of Works. This Bill is a small measure of some seven Clauses. The first Clause provides for dealing with rural housing. The Government have felt for some time past that neither private enterprise nor the activities of the local authorities would in any degree meet the pressing case of housing in the country districts. Either private owners were not able, owing to lack of funds, to do their building, or the local authorities had themselves shown no anxiety whatever to embark on schemes in purely rural areas. Those few private landowners who had themselves indulged in cottage building were the exception and not the rule, and the pressing case of the rural labourer, particularly in country districts, has become increasingly grave. As neither the private landowners nor the local authorities can provide the houses, the Government have decided that it must be 1097 done by the central authority, and so far as the agricultural districts are concerned, they have decided to ask the House of Commons to give power to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to deal with those districts.

The other object of the Bill is to provide for the pressing case of Rosyth. [HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear!"] I am encouraged by that expression of view on the other side of the House to hope that so far as Rosyth is concerned they will enable us to carry this Bill at the earliest possible date. Rosyth can best be dealt with by the Government, by means either of a public utility company—and already negotiations have proceeded some distance with those who would be prepared to undertake this by a public utility company—or, failing that, a company or association who will be prepared to carry out this work through the Board of Works; and, already, the necessary practical steps have been set afoot, so that without any unnecessary delay the case of Rosyth may be met, and the employés of the Government, who will shortly find themselves there in large numbers, can be properly housed and have abundance of cottages in which to live.

§ Mr. RUNCIMAN

The British Board of Works. It is impossible to carry through these large operations without the use of public funds, and the Government are of opinion that inasmuch as £3,000,000 is to be devoted under this measure for the purposes of rural housing, there would be cheap money thereby provided, to be under the control of the Government Department itself, and not of private individuals. It is proposed to provide at least £3,000,000 for the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to deal with the rural housing problem; and, so far as Rosyth is concerned, a sum not exceeding £2,000,000. The Treasury have undertaken to borrow money by means of terminable annuities for a term not exceeding thirty years. This does not mean, although the scheme will be conducted on an economic basis, that the rents will provide for the repayment of the capital over a period of thirty years. It is the intention of the Government, while letting the houses on an economic basis, to make the period more nearly approach the actual age of the cottages which the employés will occupy. With regard to a sinking fund on land, 1098 the Government hold the view that this need not be a charge at all on the occupiers of the cottages, and, therefore, there will be no charge whatever for a sinking fund on land with respect to any of these cottages. This is a very small proposal. I do not think that it will prove to be very highly contentious, and I hope that not only those who sit on this side of the House, but on the other, will assist to put both operations on foot as quickly as possible.