To the Bditor of the "Nomrt-Cinxa Dany News"
Sim—As one so often hears that the rents charged in Shanghai com-Pare odiously with those abroad. It will be of interest to both the landlord and tenant to study Agures concerning recent apartment housing schemes in London, I have taken the figures from the "Architect's Journal," a reliable authority, and have chosen examples which are obviously not "super-flals" of Mayfair, Dorset House, Marylebone Road, London, houses' 185 flats, mostly four-roomed fats consisting of rooms of the following sizes: living, 17 x ft; dining 12 ft, x 12 th; bed-Toms "average 14 ft. x kitchens (non-reelangular) about 32 ft. x 8 ft; small maid's room; one minimum sized bathroom." The arrangement of the rooms is such hat the living room has no privacy, serving ax circulation to the other rooms. There is no through draft in the majority of cases. The difficulty of orientating the fats is overcome by ignoring the problem altogether, It seems to be far more important to get as many flats as they can oh the site, The bathrooms have no overhead shower, there are no electric refrigerators; and all fats fre unfurnished, The rents of these flats range from £150 to £385 per annum, that is $208 to $535 per mont)
Cranmer Court, Chelsea. This is algo a large block of fats but houses large variety of types. Aspect is again ignored. There are flats, expensive ones, which can never get, the sun, The type that cost from £315 to £446 per annum, that is, $443. 0 $620 per month, consists of 'a sitting room 17 ft. 9 ins, x 13 ft, 9 Ins; dining room not connected to the sitting even by a door, 10 ft, x 12 7 ins, three bedrooms, 13 ft. 9 ins. x10 ft, 7 £1. 9 ins, x 12 ft. 7 ins., and 2 ft. 10 ins, x 15 ft, © ins; two "minimum" bathrooms; ikltehen' 12x 8, no pantry, no maid's room, no Bateony, but abe closets, wardrobe I need not go into the inter mediate types, The smallest sized flat grovelling in the lower strata of this building cost. £135—£140 annum, that ix, $100—196 per month. "The at consists of one bed Sitting' room, kitchen and. bathroom, St. Poneras Housing Scheme Intended for the working class Alt tooms Measure about 100-120" sq. fu-am average. The late are of the Simplest finish by'"which is meant {hatte cheapest "materials ate wied throughout. No. refrigeration "all as contain only one bath and kitchen only.
Two roomed flat lio ae, $9140 por
Miirec roomed at '223/870 250 por month
Four roomed flat 24/1470, 450 per month
Five roomed flat '£20/10/0 41.80 por month en/a7o 4350 per month Shope 25/070 105.00 per month The financing of this scheme is interesting. Here it is in skeleton:
Cost of 2735 acres £41250 Including roads) Building Cost 08.451 oda Plus heating and refuse disposal Gross Reveno E4079 Less Maintenance 10208
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.