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HOUSEHUNTING

& Reading

Read the text and think of a title for it. Be ready to discuss it.

No visitors to Britain can help being struck by a big number of building sitesand a relatively large number of new houses and flats that he sees in the suburbs of towns and cities all over the country but especially in the South-East and Midlands of England. The overwhelming majority of these dwellings are two-storey houses, built either in rows (terraced houses), in pairs (semi-detached houses), or singly (detached houses), with a small enclosed garden at the front and the back. In recent years a considerably higher proportion of new housing has been in the form of flats and block of flats have now become a common feature of the urban scene. Nevertheless, the traditional British prejudice in favour of houses has only been modified, not fundamentally changed. An increasing number of people, chiefly elderlyand childless, prefer to live in bungalows.

As it was implied above most of the residential areas and housing estates have been built on the outskirts of towns and cities, well away from the industrial estates with their factory buildings, warehouses, power stations and railway sidings, and also at a considerable distance from the town or city centres. In the inner parts of many British industrial towns and cities large areas of slums still continue to exist, however. In addition, almost every older town contains large areas of shabby monotonous and depressing terraced houses which are only slightly better than the official slums themselves.

Despite all the buildings that have taken place since the war, there is still an acute shortage in many parts of Britain, particularly in the expanding centres of the Midlands and the South-East. The housing problem is not simply a matter of the shortage of decent houses, however. The essence of the problem in contemporary Britain is that housing becomes a source of profit for financiers, landowners and builders. Houses and flats are commodities and are bought and sold like other commodities.

Broadly speaking, three main alternatives are open to a family seeking a home in contemporary Britain: they may rent a house or a flat from a private landlord; they may rent a publicly-owned council house or flat; or they may buy a house of their own, usually on a mortgage. Of course, millions of families prefer to buy a house, though the burden of mortgage repayments is very heavy.

A person looking for a place to live is free to choose, but only between several different ways of being exploited. Whichever alternative he chooses, whether he is a private or a council tenantor an owner-occupier, he pays dearly for the privilege of having a roof over his head.

Answer the following questions:

1. What dwellings are the overwhelming majority in Britain? What has become a common feature of the urban scene in recent years?

2. Who prefers to live in bungalows? Why?

3. Where have most of the residential areas and housing estates been built?

4. What continues to exist in the inner parts of British industrial towns?

5. What has become a source of profit for financiers? Why?

6. What alternatives are open to a family seeking a home in Britain?

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