Th e Housing and Town Planning Act of April 1919 promised to build 500,000 new houses in three years. Th is reform was “heroic” (Johnson 1968, 425) in its break from the past: it was the fi rst offi cial recognition of the political obligation of the state to house its citizens. A plurality of enlightened commissions under the Ministry of Reconstruction gave shape to the legislation and substantiated the widespread realization that private enterprise— responsible for approximately 95 percent of housebuilding prior to the war— was unable to grapple successfully and speedily with this social crisis.

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 288