Report of the Committee on Housing in Greater London / Chairman: Sir Milner Holland. Presented to Parliament by the Minister of Housing and Local Government by command of Her Majesty, March, 1965.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee on Housing in Greater London.
Date:
[1965]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee on Housing in Greater London / Chairman: Sir Milner Holland. Presented to Parliament by the Minister of Housing and Local Government by command of Her Majesty, March, 1965. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/476 (page 4)
    Moreover, any forecasts which we might make would in any case depend for their validity upon decisions of the central Government which must be made and which are already urgently required. Among the matters, to name but a few, on which a clarification and stabilization of policy are needed, are; the future role and scope of local housing authorities and of housing associa- tions; the role of private landlords and the degree of encouragement and security they may expect from Government; the future pattern and volume of employment in London; the residential densities and travelling patterns dictated by this pattern; decisions as to the long term preservation and improvement, or replacement, of the many older London houses which are ill-adapted for their present residential uses but have nevertheless a useful residual life. In the circumstances, we have not included any assessment of the future. | Framework of the Report Our report has 13 chapters. The factual heart of the report lies in Chapters 4 to 9; these constitute our survey of the present state of London rented housing. Nevertheless, no such account can be fully understood and appre- ciated without a knowledge of the recent history of London’s housing. Chapter 2 of the report therefore presents a very brief survey of post-war trends and developments. In reading this, as also some other parts of the report, the reader may be helped by a condensed guide to the complex post- war legislation, and we have therefore prepared one which will be found in Appendix I. Not only is the recent history important to an understanding of the present state of affairs. Essential, in our view, also is an appreciation of the economic climate in which the London rented housing market has developed, sometimes encouraging, but more often retarding the growth of a stock of housing for rent from all available sources. The economic factors are examined in Chapter 3. The impact of subsidy and taxation policies on the three main classes of landlord—local authorities, housing associations and private landlords—is contrasted; and the great disparity between the rents which each type of landlord must charge for comparable accommodation is shown. Due to the fiscal advantages enjoyed by house purchasers, the “‘competition’’ of owner occupation with private renting is considered. We believe that the economic factors are in part responsible for the present unsatisfactory state of London rented housing, and should for this reason be understood and kept in mind when considering the existing conditions. Included in Chapter 3 is a tentative examination of income resources of tenants, to be set against the rent levels resulting from the economic conditions earlier described and discussed. After these two introductory chapters, there follow the six central ones. We have tried to compress into readable length an account of a situation of extreme complexity, and to produce as accurate a picture as we could in the time available. We have printed in Appendices the more detailed analyses and the bulk of the statistical material from which, to a great extent, our con- clusions have been drawn. We think the survey material is very important and its relegation to Appendices is not due to any thought that it is in any way subsidiary, but because the inclusion of so much detail might tend to obscure the thread of the main argument and conclusions.