[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Reading County Borough.

  • Reading (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1960
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Reading County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    120/136 (page 116)
    HOUSING (These comments should be read in conjunction with the report of the Chief; Public Health Inspector and with my comments under Part III of the National! Assistance Act.) Mr. C. H. A. Willett, L.R.I.B.A., M.R.S.H., Borough Architect, has been goodl enough to supply the following information The outstanding event of the year 1960 was the taking over of the first block ofl multi-storey flats. These are fifteen storeys in height and are, at the present time, the tallest block; of dwellings in this part of the Country. Three blocks have been built together with a double decked block of garages, the whole forming an impressive group of buildings which fit well into the very pleasant! surroundings of Coley Park. The Housing Committee invited the Public to view the first block before it was occupied; about 1,000 people came during a week-end, and it appears that much favourable comment was made on the general standard of the accommodation and the facilities provided. The necessity for people in provincial towns like Reading to become used to flats, becomes more acute as the building land daily becomes less within the Borough thus forcing the local Authority to seek a solution to this difficult problem by building upwards, since it is becoming impossible to find land for houses in town, and ex¬ tortionate prices have to be paid for suitable land outside the Borough which must of: course be reflected in rent costs. Reading is a very important regional town with several large industries and offering facilities for commerce in many directions, and therefore attracting people to it, not only is the town itself full to overflowing but several large firms are develop¬ ing estates on the outskirts, and these dwellings too are snapped up as soon as possible by eager purchasers, thus it is not difficult to understand that the Reading Housing Committee are still facing a big problem of re-housing even though they have now1 built more than 5,000 dwellings since 1946—and are continuing to press on as fast as: circumstances permit. The very serious shortage of bricks, in particular, and of building labour in general, is hampering their efforts, so too is the weather which has been bad for the Building and Civil engineering industries for many months past—but in spite of that! there were 374 new dwellings produced in 1960, that is at the rate of a little over one complete dwelling every day of the year. In addition to the number of tenants admitted to brand new dwellings there is: also a large turnover in re-lets, more than. 200 were disposed of last year, apart from exchanges which the Housing Committee are always willing to consider in approved: circumstances. A fine block of flats in Basingstoke Road was taken over recently, this should be a popular spot to live in because of its convenience, being directly on a main bus route; and close to shopping facilities, as well as being not far from several industrial under¬ takings. Although the site was originally an eyesore, being more like a large pit, the Housing Committee boldly tackled the problem with the result that the whole area: has been improved by this good scheme, which is really the beginning of many others: of a similar kind now being planned for the Borough, though this kind of scheme is; limited to odd sites wherever they can be found, in ever diminishing numbers. The variety of accommodation now owned and controlled by the Corporation isi very wide, ranging all the way from bed-sitting rooms up to six-bedroom houses— everything from a bungalow up to multi-storey flats.