Old houses into new homes.

  • Great Britain. Ministry of Housing and Local Government
Date:
1968
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Old houses into new homes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    reference to Whitehall, and without appeal or hearing. The time for appeal or hearing will be if, and only if, it becomes necessary to propose the compulsory purchase of any house or land, and at that stage the customary statutory safeguards of the appeal system will come into play. But the better the local explanation and co-operation is, the less frequently will compulsory purchase be necessary. 55. The keynote of the proposals is that the local authorities should posi- tively concern themselves with the condition of the unsatisfactory private houses in their towns. The legislative and other changes now proposed, while reserving compulsory acquisition as an ultimate sanction, will greatly strengthen and widen the authorities’ powers to improve the living conditions of their people. 56. The proposals of this paper place great emphasis on flexibility: flexi- bility in conditions, in grant maxima, in Ministerial control. And this is right, since local circumstances will vary very widely. Some authorities will need to continue to devote most of their energies to clearance areas. Others, where there are not so many slums, or not such a shortage of housing, or a higher proportion of sound old houses, will wish to put much greater emphasis on General Improvement Areas. 57. These proposals will bring both problems and opportunities to the building industry, not excluding the smaller builders. The relations between the local authority and the local builders, and a good organisation to make the most productive use of their services and of local authorities’ direct labour departments in this work, will greatly affect the success of improve- ment in any area. The Government are further studying this aspect of the subject and will consult the industry about it. 58. And finally, the Government hope that the publication of this White Paper, and the passage of the legislation it proposes, will be the occasion for a great new drive, grouping all the existing powers and using to the full the new powers and the higher grants proposed, for the improvement of those millions of older houses, and those hundreds of thousands of older streets which, though they are neglected at the moment, can be made into decent, pleasant and comfortable places to live in.
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