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4.3 Type of House and Garden Wanted

4.3 1 Discussion of the type of house and garden wanted by Scottish husbands was introduced by questions designed to discover if the husband wanted to move and whether or not he had made any attempts to do so.

4.3 2 In reply to the question “Have you had a chance to move to another house”? 6% of husbands said they had had a chance to move, but had not done so. About one-third of the reasons for being unwilling to take another available house were those concerned with inconvenience to the place of work or other interests.

4.3 3 Husbands who want to Move

Husbands were then asked if they would move if they could find a house which would suit them better. 72% said they would move, 25% that they were unwilling to move and were unable to answer the question.

The proportion who wished to move was higher in large towns and smaller in the small towns; for example 82% of Glasgow husbands were willing to move, compared with 73% of Edinburgh husbands, 62% of Dundee husbands and 83% of Aberdeen husbands. Taking large towns as a whole the proportion was 78% in medium towns it was 72% and in small towns 48%

There were also differences in the inner, middle and outer zones of the great cities. 87% living in inner zones wish to move compared with 79% in middle zones and 66% in outer zones.

The influence of the present sort of house and neighbourhood affected very much the willingness of husbands to move if they could find a house which suited them better. There were a sufficiently large number of husbands living in flatted houses and in tenements to make possible a comparison on the basis of house type. Whereas 81% of husbands living in tenements were willing to move, only 53% of husbands living in flatted-type dwellings gave this opinion.

Age of dwelling also affected the willingness to move. 80% of the tenants of houses built before 1914 wished to move compared with 50% of those living in houses built between 1919 and 1939.

Neighbourhood was a very important factor. 86% of those living in congested neighbourhoods wished to move compared with 57% of those living in open districts and similarly 84% of those living in noisy districts wished to move compared with 62% of those living in quiet districts.

Willingness to move was also a function of age. 83% of husbands between 19 and 35 wished to move, compared with. 78% of those between 36 and 50 years and 60% of those of 51 and over.

4.3 4 The Type of House Preferred

Those husbands who said they were willing to move were asked “What sort of house would you prefer”? The type of house most preferred was the one storey self-contained house (bungalow) chosen by 41% which was followed by the two storey self-contained house preferred by 23%. This very high proportion - 64% - who wanted a self-contained house shows clearly the reaction from tenement conditions. 16% said they would like a flatted house, 4% a terraced house and only 8/ wished to live in a tenement.

In order to get a full picture of the proportion of Scottish husbands who were willing to live in tenements the proportion of those unwilling to move who were still in tenements should be taken into consideration. These were 13% of the whole sample. Thus something like one-fifth of all Scottish husbands appeared to be willing to continue living in the tenement type of dwelling.

There were differences between large, medium and small town dwellers in the type of house preferred. 36% of those living in large towns preferred the bungalow compared with 54% of those living in medium towns and 31% in small towns, 24% of those living in large towns expressed a preference for the two storey self-contained house, as did 22% of those living in medium towns and 17% of those living in small towns. The flatted type of house was most preferred in the small towns where it was preferred by 29% of husbands, compared with 11% of those living in medium towns and 16% of those living in large towns. The tenement was preferred by 11% of those living in large towns, 5% of those living in medium towns, but only 1% of the small town dwellers.

Differences between the choices of husbands living in the zones of large cities were small, a somewhat higher proportion of those in the outer zone preferring the bungalow or two storey self-contained house and a somewhat larger proportion of those living in the inner zone preferring the tenement. (16% compared with 5%).

The preferences of husbands for each type of dwelling were not influenced by the neighbourhood in which they Iived.

There were small differences between age groups, the most important being the difference between the proportions of the youngest group of whom 28% wanted a two storey self-contained house, compared with 17% of the oldest group. The proportions preferring the tenement in the same groups were 5% and 10% respectively. There was little difference in the other preferences.

4.3 5 Willingness to pay more rent

Husbands were asked whether they would be prepared to pay more rent for the house of their choice. 70% of those wishing to move were willing to pay more rent, 19% were unwilling and 11% were unable to give an answer.

The proportion willing to pay more rent was much higher in the youngest age group 80% compared with the two higher age groups - 74% and 58%.

The willingness to pay a higher rent was greatest amongst those who prefer a bungalow to any other type of dwelling - 77% compared with 69% of those who wanted a 2 storey self-contained house and 65% of those who wanted a flatted type of house.

4.3 6 Gardens

Husbands were asked which type of garden they would prefer, a private garden a communal garden or no garden at all, and whether they would like their garden attached to their dwelling, at some distance from it or both.

81% of husbands who were willing to move said they would like a private garden, 9% wanted a communal garden and 6% no garden at all.

85% of the youngest age group wanted a private garden 81% of the 36 to 50 group and 76% of those of 51 and over. The proportions who preferred a communal garden were very much smaller, 10%, 8% and 9% respectively, but there was a difference between those who wanted no garden at all, 3% in the youngest group, 6% in the middle group and 10% in the oldest group.

Almost all (91%) wanted the garden near their home, 2% said they would like a garden away from their home and 4% wanted both types of garden. There were no important differences between the age groups.

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4.4 The Location of the New Dwelling

4.4 1 The husbands who were willing to move to a house that would suit them better were asked whether they would like to live in a large city, and within the large city in the inner, middle or outer zone, a small burgh, the country [Text Missing] by the sea. 57% wished to live in a large city, 30% in a small burgh, 13% in the country, 1% by the sea.

A very large proportion of all husbands were only willing to move to a how in a district similar to that in which they were already living. This information must be interpreted with the fact that only 72% of husbands were willing [Text Missing] move at all, so that the factor of conservatism is greater than at first appear.

62% of husbands living in large cities said they wished to continue living there. In addition there were 22% of husbands living in large cities who did not wish to move, making altogether 84% of husbands living in large cities who

wished to remain there. The proportions in medium towns were 43% and 28%, making 71% in all, and in small towns 31% preferred to live in a small town and 52% were unwilling to move; a total of 83% who wished to remain in small towns.

There was a similar conservatism in relation to zone; a total of 33% of those living in the inner zone wished to remain there, 20% who wished to continue living there and 13% who were unwilling to move. The proportions for the middle zone were 26% and 21%, making 47% and for the outer zone 38% and 34%, making 72% in all.

Looked at in another way these total proportions might be considered as indications of satisfaction with different types of community; thus the outer zone of large cities is condidered by those who live in it very much preferable to the other zones.

4.4 2 Considering only those husbands who wish to move, their choices are as follows:- 79% of those who live in large cities wished to continue living there, 13% in the inner zone, 24% in the middle zone and 42% in the outer zone, 4% wished to live in a small burgh, 11% in the country and 1% by the sea.

Of dwellers in medium towns 17% wished to live in large cities and of these 12% in the outer zone of large cities, 60% wished to live in a small burgh, 15% in the country and 1% by the sea.

Of those already living in small towns 9% wished to live in a large city, 66% in a small burgh and 13% in the country.

Husbands living in the inner zone of large cities expressed the following main preferences; 23% to continue living in the inner zone, 21% to move to the middle zone, and 37% to live in the outer zone of a large city. 7% said that they would like to live in the country.

The main preferences of husbands in the middle zone were that 33% wished to continue there, 38% preferred the outer zone and 12% the country. Satisfaction with the outer zone was very marked in the preferences of the husbands living there; 57% wanted to continue living there, 12% preferred the middle zone of the town and 14% the country.

The detailed analysis of where husbands wished to live in relation to their present dwelling place is given below:-

There were some differences between the preferences of the two younger age groups and those of the oldest group. In the first instance the oldest group had a much larger proportion who were unwilling to move 37% compared with 14% in the youngest group and 22% in the middle group. Of those willing to move the oldest group had only 48% who wished to live in large cities compared with 58% and 49% in the two younger groups. They had a correspondingly higher proportion who wished to live in the country.

4.4 3 Reasons for Preferring Certain Locations for the Future Dwelling

There was a very wide range of answers given when husbands were asked why they would prefer to live in the community chosen.

The main reason for preferring to live in a large city was ‘To be near work’. The second most important was for health reasons; almost all of these, however, were given by those choosing the outer zone of large cities.

The reason most frequently expressed for wishing to live in a small burgh was that the husband had always lived there and did not wish to move or was too old to move. ‘To be near work’ was also important for people preferring to live in a small burgh.

The two reasons for wishing to live in the country were for health and wishing to return to the country having been brought up there.

It is clear from these results that very many husbands only visualise this choice in relation to their present life with their present job; thus if it were possible to convey not only a choice of future community, but with it the promise of employment in the man’s occupation, willingness to move might be found to be much greater. It is believed that much of the conservatism displayed in these answers relates to this fundamental attitude to employment.

Among those who wished to live in a large city the most important reasons for preferring the inner and middle zones were the same ‘To be near work’ or ‘Always lived there’. The reasons for preferring the outer zone were mainly ‘Fresh air’ or other health reasons or ‘To be near work’. Details are given below:-

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4.5 Convenience - The Relation of the Home to Interests

4.5 1 This section will compare the importance for all husbands of having certain interests near their home and also analyses the distance travelled to and time taken in visiting the place of work in relation to the husband’s views about the convenience of his work place.

It was regarded as very important by 48% of all husbands to have the place of work near to the home. This may be compared with 18% for cinema, 14% for sports ground and 10% for the public house.

Although the cinema was an interest preferred by a large proportion no less than 16% thought that it was not important that it should be near their home. Details are given here

4.5 2 Analysis of the distance travelled to work shows that distances up to 1100 yards were regarded as convenient by almost all who had a journey of this length to work. Distances of over 1100 yards and up to 1¼ miles were thought to be inconvenient by 12% of those who had a journey of this length. Of those who travelled 1¼ to 3½ miles 29% considered the journey as not convenient and journeys of over 3½ miles were regarded as not convenient by 48% of those who travelled this far to work.

Analysis of the time taken to go to work shows a somewhat different picture. 19% of those who had a journey of between 13 and 22 minutes regard the situation of their home to their work as being not convenient as did 37% with a journey of between 23 and 40 minutes and 61% of those who have a journey of over 40 minutes.

4.5 3 The Zones in which the husband lives and has his interests

An analysis has been made to show where the husbands living in each of the three zones of large cities work. In most cases men worked m the zones where they lived although the large proportion in our sample from which information was not obtained as to their work place makes it difficult to give more than the general answer. It is known, however, that 45% of husbands who lived in the inner zone worked in that zone, 13% of them in the middle zone and 15% in the outer zone. Of these who lived in the middle zone 23% worked in the inner zone, 31% in the middle zone and 16% in the outer zone and of those who lived in the outer zone 21% worked in the inner zone, 11% in the middle zone and 39% in the outer zone. Thus although most men work in the zone in which they live, there is a large proportion living in each zone who travelled either outwards or inwards in their journey to work.

Looked at another way we can say that of all those who worked in the inner zone 45% lived there, 36% came from the middle zone and 19% from the outer zone. Of all those who worked in the middle zone 67% lived there, 19% came from the inner zone and 14% from the outer zone and of all those who worked in the outer zone 47% lived there, 19% came from the inner zone and 34% from the middle zone.

These proportions have a curious balance as will be seen from the abstract table below. The pattern of the inner zone and the outer zone is almost identical, but in reverse; whereas the pattern of the middle zone is intermediate and balanced between the inner and outer zone.

This suggests an obvious economy of transport in the possibility of rationalizing the relation of work place to home.