The housing of the nation / by F.E. Fremantle.

  • Fremantle, Francis E. (Francis Edward), 1872-1943.
Date:
[1927]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The housing of the nation / by F.E. Fremantle. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/216 page 1
    THE PROBLEM The Housing Problem The housing problem is no new thing. In all past ages the lowest grades of the people have lived in hovels. The slums of our towns date at least from the industrial revolution and the demand for cheap labour in the factories. In London over¬ crowding was worse before the war than it is at present.1 What is new is not the problem, but the growing public realisation of the problem and the growing demand for higher standards, both good things of themselves. The war intensified the diffi¬ culties born of past neglect and, further, with the return of the armies, brought them home with a new meaning to public sentiment ; while, again, the woman voter has begun to assert herself in a field which is especially her own. But can we say that our problem is yet fully realised ? Good housing is one of the vital needs of the nation ; but it is difficult for one who has not lived in a slum, or perhaps has not even entered a house in a slum area, to understand what life must mean under such conditions. Let us first boldly face the facts and effects of bad housing at its worst. 1 The number of persons living more than 2 per room in London was, in 1911, 17.8 per cent, of the total private-family population, and, in 1921, 16.1 per cent. The corresponding figures for the whole country were 9.1 (1911) and 9.6 (1921).
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