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TABLE 4.-Sources of funds for war housing already programmed as of Aug. 28, 1942

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1 Of this, $1,035,000,000 represents appropriations. The balance represents borrowings indicated in 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, below.

2 Funds available to Defense Homes Corporation include capital of $10,000,000 transferred from the President's emergency funds and an estimated $50,600,000 borrowed from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The figures are estimated on the basis that no funds will be available from Defense Homes Corporation beyond the amounts for which commitments have already been made.

3 Ú. S. Housing Authority borrowings for projects converted to war housing under Public, No. 671. 4 The original appropriation was for $100,000,000. The sum of $44,593,500 was transferred to be expended under the provisions of Public, No. 849, as authorized by that act. This sum is therefore excluded from funds available under Public, No. 781, and included in funds available under Public, No. 849.

'Includes $44,593,500 transferred from funds originally appropriated under Public, No. 781. Excludes $10,000,000 used to reimburse the President's emergency funds for amounts previously transferred from those funds to the Defense Homes Corporation.

• Represents recent amendment to Public, No. 849 providing $15,000,000 for housing in the District of Columbia.

7 Represents funds which have been set aside for housing by the Army.

8 United States Housing Authority under the United States Housing Act. Estimated amount available for those United States Housing Authority low-rental projects to which priorities assistance has been or will be granted on condition that preference in occupancy be reserved for war workers.

Represents money made available from the New York State Housing Authority funds, for houses granted priorities on condition that they be reserved for war workers.

10 Represents money made available from the Boulder Canyon Project Act to build houses at Boulder City, Nev.

11 The estimated cost of these 13,232 units is $56,500,000. The balance of available funds is to be used to cover units programmed under Public, No. 849 in excess of available funds (see table 8).

PROGRESS OF PUBLIC WAR HOUSING ALREADY PROGRAMMED

The CHAIRMAN. I notice table 4, covering housing heretofore programmed, shows a total of 1,914,023 units, of which private enterprise will take care of 1,490,000 units and the public construction 424,023 units. There is a total of public construction funds of $1,439,588,800, of which $1,500,000 represents an appropriation from the Defense Homes Corporation of $60,588,800.

What is the status of the project provided with these funds? Mr. BLANDFORD. You are speaking of public projects? Table 13 picks up the 424,023 units which you have just referred to. The CHAIRMAN. We will also insert in the record table 5.

(The table referred to is as follows:)

TABLE 5.—Progress of public war housing already programmed as of Aug. 28, 1942

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1 Does not include units built with funds (44.6 million dollars) transferred from Public, No. 781 to be expended under provisions of Public, No. 849.

2 Projects for which priority assistance has been or will be granted on condition that occupancy be reserved for war workers.

Mr. BLANDFORD. This table shows 41,690 completed, 168,883 under construction, and 113,450 in various stages prior to the letting of contracts.

OCCUPANCY OF PUBLIC WAR HOUSING ALREADY PROGRAMMED

The CHAIRMAN. By "completed" you mean occupied?

Mr. BLANDFORD. We have a table on the next page which shows that.

The CHAIRMAN. Table 5 (b) will be inserted in the record.

(The table referred to is as follows:)

TABLE 5 (b).—Occupancy of public war housing already programmed as of Aug. 28, 1942---Projects in continental United States

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Does not include units built with funds (44.6 million dollars) transferred from Public, No. 781, to be expended under provisions of Public, No. 849.

Irojects for which priority assistance has been or will be granted on condition that occupancy be reserved for war workers.

The CHAIRMAN. This first table shows 424,023 units programmed, 141,600 completed, and 168,883 under construction. When will these 168,883 be completed that are now under construction?

Mr. EMMERICH. Our construction schedule calls for the entire program to be completed early in 1943.

The CHAIRMAN. When will the 113,450 be placed under contract? That is the figure shown at the top of the last column.

Mr. EMMERICH. They are being placed under contract currently. About 48,000 units have been placed under contract since this table was prepared, and they should all be placed under contract before the end of November.

The CHAIRMAN. In the second table, table 5 (b), I see that 132,000 units are available for occupancy.

Mr. BLANDFORD. I can explain the difference between that figure and the 141,000. The 132,000 figure represents projects in the

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continental United States. There are some 10,000 units programmed to be built in the possessions. They present a rather special problem. Of the 132,949 units available for occupancy, as the table indicates, 122,055 were occupied as of August 28.

DISCUSSION OF HOUSING VACANCIES

That is about

The CHAIRMAN. You say you have 10,894 vacant. 8 percent of vacancy. What is the situation there? Were they completed ahead of the plants, or were they at a place where it was decided afterward not to go ahead with the plant, or what were your reasons? Eight percent is a pretty large percentage of vacancy. Mr. BLANDFORD. Well, we rather thought that 92 percent occupied was not a bad figure; because this table is taking a cross section as of a particular day, and the unoccupied projects for the most part were completed shortly before that day. It may take several weeks to get complete occupancy of each project after it is finished, particularly under the tighter rules of occupancy, so the 8 percent represents mostly a natural time lag rather than a permanent loss or even a long-time loss.

this?

The CHAIRMAN. What is the date on Mr. BLANDFORD. This is August 28. We are trying to keep these projects for in-migrant war workers. That may postpone complete occupancy over a few weeks' time. Then, there are bound to be projects just completed, where there is not complete occupancy. All these factors are reflected by these figures. I think, really, that the percentage of 92 percent occupied would be considered a fairly good record.

RELATION OF HOUSING PROGRAM TO PLANT EXPANSION

The CHAIRMAN. How long do you expect the demand for housing to continue during the entire duration of the war, or will you reach a saturation point somewhere soon after the housing provided for by this fund is available?

Mr. BLANDFORD. Well, it is directly related, Mr. Chairman, to the program of plant expansion.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, we have reached static on plant expansion, generally speaking, so they tell us.

Mr. BLANDFORD. I have not the figures here, but there is a considerable amount of plant construction; and there are a great many plants, perhaps recently completed, which are recruiting their workers on a schedule which won't reach its peak until, in many cases, the spring, summer, or fall of the calendar year 1943.

All we are attempting to do here is to program for the in-migrants that are estimated to move into these plants by July 1, 1943. coming to about 1,600,000 to 2,000,000 in-migrants.

The CHAIRMAN. You think by that time you will have the most of the housing required?

Mr. BLANDFORD. I think, certainly, we shall be over the hump and have the major part of the thing done. This program has lagged, and there will be a lot of crowding-up temporarily, people living in trailers and every conceivable accommodation until we can get this housing and accommodate them. I really cannot predict. The whole thing

depends on how long the war lasts, what our plant expansion is, whether it involves new types of plants, and where they are located. The CHAIRMAN. In the meantime, private construction is proceeding at a slower pace, due to lack of materials?

Mr. BLANDFORD. Well, this is clearly a difficult time to build anything, sir, and private enterprise has the same troubles that Emmerich is having. It takes time to work our the materials problem. But this does not decrease the need and, by some device or other, we must have this much accommodations. We will get it; it is slow. Private enterprise is having its difficulty, of course, but we are relying upon private enterprise for 270,000-odd units in this new program.

By the way, the Kansas City picture has been a reliance on private enterprise for war housing units to a very considerable extent. The CHAIRMAN. Well, that is a very gratifying situation.

STATUS OF FUNDS ALREADY AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC WAR HOUSING

Now, turning to tab 15, table 8, we will also place that table in the record.

(The table above referred to is as follows:)

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