Chapter 7
Athrú polasaithe tar éis 1929
CHANGING POLICIES AFTER 1929
Ba é an toradh a bhí ann ar iarrachtaí an tSaorstáit le linn na 1920idí chun feabhas a chur ar thithíocht ná tithíocht fho-uirbeach nua ar ardchaighdeán do líon teoranta daoine. Athraíodh tírdhreacha uirbeacha i go leor ceantar agus é ag cruthú “acmhainn a bhfuil na saoránaigh an-bhrodúil as’. Ag deireadh na deich mbliana, áfach, bhí gá le hathrú i bpolasaithe mar bhí fadhb mhór sluma fós ann. Bhí gá le maoiniú do na ceantair tithíochta is measa agus na ceantair nach raibh in ann tithíocht mhaith a sholáthar dóibh féin.
The outcome of the Free State’s efforts to improve housing during the 1920s was new high quality suburban housing for a limited number of people. In many areas this had transformed urban landscapes, creating ‘an asset of which the citizens may well feel proud’.* However, by the end of the decade a change in policy was needed as a serious urban slum problem remained. Funding was required for the worst housing areas and those not able to provide decent housing for themselves.
“THERE CAN BE NO MISTAKE THAT THE STATE OF THINGS WHICH NOW EXISTS IS HORRIBLE AND INTOLERABLE”**
Three generations of a family pose beside their “home” at Alexander Street, Waterford, February 1924. Waterford was notorious for its slums and high mortality rates. Reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.
Number of Houses built under State-aided Schemes in each year ended 31st March, 1923 to 1929.
In July 1929, the Department of Local Government and Public Health asked urban authorities to survey housing conditions in their areas.3 The results showed a serious need for a sustained campaign to remove Ireland’s urban slums. Overall, 43,656 houses were needed in urban areas.*** Of these, almost equal numbers were required to meet the demand for additional housing (29%) and to replace houses considered unfit for human habitation (29%). Further houses would be needed to rehouse people displaced as whole areas deemed unhealthy were cleared of all occupiers (18%) and to replace houses below a reasonable standard (20%).
A new 1929 Housing Act reduced available grants and began to focus instead on the most vulnerable members of society. A uniform grant of £60 per house was made available to both local authorities and public utility societies, £50 was available for labourers’ cottages, with just £45 for private builders. As far as possible, local authority schemes were required to build four-room houses, where the total cost per completed house was not to exceed £350 (with a
building cost of £300 per house). When ready, the rents were set at levels approved by the minister. Further legislation in the 1930s would place the emphasis firmly on slum clearance, but it is clear that policy change was already underway. As the 1920s came to an end, improving public finances allowed political parties to contemplate the long-postponed tackling of the slums. Marino’s standards would now be seen as aspirational in a much more intense housing drive.
Plan for ‘modified’ 4-roomed house costing £300 to build, promoted under the 1929 Housing Act.
Images from Thurles used to illustrate an article in The Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics, 1932, 8 (1), p. 4.
* Evening Herald, 23 May 1928.
**J.T. O’Farrell, Seanad Éireann, 20 March 1929.
***Circular Letter of 5th July, 1929, H. 45560, to each County Borough, Urban District Council, and Commissioners of Towns. Advances from Local Loans Fund for Housing, Department of Local Government and Public Health, Report 1929-30 (Dublin, 1931), Appendix XXVIb.
FIND OUT MORE:
CABRA: AN INDICATION OF CHANGING PRIORITIES
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: THE 1931 AND 1932 HOUSING ACTS
THE FREE STATE HOUSING PROGRAMME
Chapter 10