ABSTRACT
Confidence was severely shaken by some mild proposals contained in the People's Budget of 1909 which promised a token redistribution of wealth. Lloyd George's campaign in support of the measure aroused further apprehension. The Trustees decided in 1888 to start building on their own account, and it can be said that Glasgow then took its first steps towards becoming a socialist city. Although 1876 had been a boom year for Scottish house production when 28,531 houses were built, the annual production sank to between 5,000 and 10,000. The Dwelling Houses Scotland Act 1855 gave power for associations of persons acting in the public interest to acquire dilapidated property at a price fixed by the sheriff; this was the forerunner of compulsory purchase. An annual subsidy of £6 per house was offered to local authorities as well as grants to private enterprise.
