PLATE IV.
LINDEN ROAD,
BOURNVILLE.
PLATE V.
THE OLD FARM
INN, BOURNVILLE.
While it was the first aim of the founder to provide dwellings for the factory worker which should have adequate accommodation and large gardens, it was not intended that at Bournville provision should be made alone for the poorer working class. It might be pointed out that one of the most prominent ideals in the scheme of the Garden Suburb Trust, already referred to, is “that all classes may live in kindly neighbourliness,” and the amalgamation of the factory-worker and the brain-worker in the same district is catered for as being expressly desirable. At Bournville there has always been a demand for houses both on the part of the skilled artisan and others, and this demand has been provided for from the first. Rents in the village range from 4s. 6d. a week, rates not included, to 12s. a week; and there are also a few houses of a still larger class at higher rentals. Nor are the houses let to Messrs. Cadbury’s own workpeople exclusively, as the following figures will show—figures based on a private census taken during 1901, and here quoted from a booklet issued by the Village Trust:—
| Proportion of Householders working in— | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bournville | 41·2 | per cent. |
| Villages within a mile of Bournville | 18·6 | „ |
| Birmingham | 40·2 | „ |
| Occupations of Householders— | ||
|---|---|---|
| Employed at indoor work in factories | 50·7 | per cent. |
| Clerks and travellers | 13·3 | „ |
| Mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers, and various occupations not admitting of exact classification | 36·0 | „ |
The village is four miles from Birmingham, and is easily accessible by cycle, rail, or electric car. The last come within easy distance of the village, workmen’s fares being 2d. return.
Under the founder’s first scheme the land was let upon leases of 999 years, subject to a ground rent varying from ½d. to 1d. per yard (600 square yards at ½d. and 1d. = £1 5s. and £2 10s. respectively). Arrangements were made to find capital on mortgages granted at the rate of Three per cent. to those who paid less than half the cost of the house and Two and a-half per cent. to those who paid more. Although a stipulation was made that no one person should be allowed to build more than four houses, it was found necessary to revise the arrangement in order to prevent speculation. In 1900, therefore, the estate was handed over to a Trust on behalf of the nation, the whole income to be directed to solving the housing problem. The houses now built are let to tenants at moderate weekly rentals, which include the annual ground rent, equal to about 1d. per yard (according to its value), and which should yield Four per cent. net. The revenue of house and ground rents is employed, after provision has been made for the maintenance and repair of present property, in the development of the village itself, and in the laying out and development of other villages elsewhere, the Trust being empowered under the deed of foundation to acquire land in any part of Great Britain. Subsequently to the formation of the Trust, additional land adjacent to Bournville has been added to the founder’s gift, and included in the village, which now extends over 458 acres. Already upwards of 100 acres of land have been laid out for building. There are now about 450 houses in the hands of the Trust, which number, added to the 143 sold under the first scheme, makes a total of nearly 600. With the income of the Trust, building is being steadily proceeded with, and there is a continual demand for houses.
PLATE VI.
SYCAMORE ROAD,
BOURNVILLE.