65° - 01.09.1967, Page 16

cut stones available in the country. As a result
farms were built with a minimum of timber which
had to be either imported or was drift wood in
short lengths. In 1703, 69% of the population
were dependent on agriculture alone and another
15% on both farming and fishing for their liveli-
hood.
Timber was used for the main passage only,
for roofs, and in some farms for panelling of the
main room. As a result of this scarcity of timber,
each room had its separate roof. The outer walls,
except for the entrance, were built of rough
stones without mortar; walls and roofs were then
covered with sods. Windows were in both roof
and wall and were of glass or animal membrane.
The Housing Report of 1940 still lists 1657 sod
houses, mainly in country districts. The few still
standing are, or are to be, incorporated in
museums.
Within these houses the farmer and his wife
had either a separate bedroom or at least were
partioned off from the main room. The others
of the household lived in this main room and
worked there as well. Beds were built along both
walls and were the main furniture. People sat on
their beds during the day, took their meals, card-
ed and spun, made ropes and did other work sit-
ting on their beds. Wooden chests were used for
the storage of private property. These houses
were of course always damp. Firewood was
scarce, and only the kitchen was heated.
The change in the housing standard has been
revolutionary. Today, Iceland enjoys one of the
highest housing standards in Europe, consider-
ably higher than other Scandinavian countries.
Oft the nearly 40 000 separate dwellings recorded
in December, 1960 in Iceland, 77.8% had three
rooms or more (kitchens not included), whereas
in Sweden only 42.8% had dwellings as large.
The tendency is for further improvements, and
the dwellings built in recent years are generally
larger. Some 95% of all dwellings in 1960 had
some kind of central heating and at least 70%
had private bathing facilities. Despite all this
progress there are still some families without
their own dwellings, rooming in with other
people.
To complete our picture of housing, it should
be pointed out that the rooms of the Icelandic
dwellings, particularly the sitting rooms, tend to
be far larger than in other countries; quite fre-
quently these measure thirty or more square
metres. Household equipment has also steadily
improved. Icelandic kitchens are now well at par
with American ones, and in fact much equipment
is imported from there. Other equipment, e.g.
furniture, is rising into the luxury class. In 1965
Icelanders spent the equivalent of $100 each for
the purchase of new durable household goods.
When comparing this figure with American
equivalents, it must be borne in mind that prices
in Iceland are 200—300% of those in the U.S.A.,
due to transport costs and customs duties.
Housing is expensive in Iceland. Due to earth-
quake danger nearly all houses are now built of
poured and reinforced concrete, which makes
construction expensive. In 1966, the market price
of a three room flat in Reykjavik was about U.S.
$22 000. Taking the market price as a basis, the
cost of housing, including the loss of interest on
capital invested, was $290 per person a year in
1965.
The climate demands good heating, and Ice-
landers have now become accustomed to warm
dwellings and good lighting, and in 1965, each
person spent $52 for these purposes. Despite high
prices, nearly 80% of all dwellings are owner-
occupied.
The old farms were badly lit. It was the habit
during winter months to take a rest in the early
evening and to get up again later to do some
work within the house, such as spinning, carding
and similar. Light was provided by open lamps
using animal oils as lighting material and seal
oil was considered the best, and there were also
home made candles. These oil lamps were in use
until 1870 when they had been generally replaced
by petroleum lamps. But in spite of the great
poverty, the culture of the ordinary people stood
high. One person would read aloud on the farms,
while the other worked.
Electricity was first introduced in 1904 when
HafnarfjorSur got a small hydroelectric station
of 9 kW. By 1964, there were 50 public power
plants with 149 258 kW installed power. In ad-
dition, there are some 1100 private generating
stations, mainly on farms and in some factories.
94.5% of all dwellings had electric light in 1960,