102 ' ' THE* MNORITY REPORT 



and Wales, and it will also be found to present difficulties in 

 arranging for the employment of ex-Service men on the land. 

 In the period immediately preceding the outbreak of War, 

 some progress was made towards the solution of the housing 

 problem in rural districts, especially as a result of the Housing 

 and Town Planning Act, which was beginning to effect sub- 

 stantial improvements. In August 1914 an Act of Parlia- 

 ment ^ was passed to authorise the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries to advance large loans to local authorities and 

 public utility societies in agricultural districts for the purpose 

 of erecting cottages. The Act was passed as an emergency 

 measure at a time when it was thought that, owing to the 

 war, the country might be faced with serious problems arising 

 from unemployment. Owing to the financial position and 

 the scarcity of labour, the Act has not been put into opera- 

 tion. We are, however, strongly of opinion that, as soon as 

 practicable, it should be made operative, and that local 

 authorities should be empowered to raise loans for building, 

 and otherwise be encouraged to build in the districts in 

 which cottages are most needed, and especially where the 

 condemnation of cottages under the Housing and Town 

 Planning Acts tend to accentuate the shortage. Public utility 

 societies and landowners should also be encouraged to build 

 by the offer of loans. 



" 166. It has been suggested to us by the Right Hon. 

 F. D. Acland, M.P., that war memorials might often take 

 the shape of groups of cottages for discharged ex-Service 

 men, or almshouses for disabled sailors and soldiers, and that 

 these might, when built, be vested in some public authority 

 such as the Parish Council or the County Territorial Associa- 

 tion. We entirely approve of this suggestion. 



** 157. The difficulties in the way of providing new cottages 

 in country districts would be largely removed if an economic 

 rent could be charged for them. The present practice of 

 letting good cottages at a nominal rent not only tends to 

 keep the standard of wages low, but discourages building 

 and aggravates the problem in other ways. The cottages 

 are usually provided by the landowner primarily for agri- 

 cultural workmen, but they are often occupied by the em- 

 ployees of local authorities and railway companies and by 



1 HoTising (No. 2) Act, 1914. Section 1 (i), which gave the Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries powers, during the period of one year 

 from the passing of the Act, to acquire land and buildings for 

 housing purposes, has expired. 



