Orders of the Day — Housing

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 March 1945.

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Photo of Mr Henry Willink Mr Henry Willink , Croydon North 12:00, 22 March 1945

There are tens of thousands who have no homes, but I have no reason to believe that they are more competent to form an estimate of the number of houses that can be built than my hon. Friend the Member for Peckham. I was about to say a few words about the conditions which will have to be fulfilled if we are to achieve this target. I have mentioned the use of labour-saving methods, and I do not want to say much about them now, because they lie in the technical field which is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works. But I think I should define to some extent what I mean. There are not only the methods of working on the site and the use of materials which call for the minimum amount of labour, but there is also the use of standardisation in fittings and components. With, perhaps, unusual firmness I have told local authorities that they will be expected to use, in their housing schemes, materials and fitments in accordance with the "Handbook of British Standards," prepared by the British Standards Institution, of which I sent them copies in December last. There is no doubt that by the reduction of varieties of, for instance, baths and chimney pots, one can get a considerable economy in labour. I doubt very much whether our production could get going in that period unless some such steps were taken.