HISTORY OF THE HOUSING QUESTION IN LONDON.

HISTORY OF THE HOUSING QUESTION IN LONDON.

205 few houses. The rules in regard to comthe same as under Part I., excepting that may be made if the improvements to be effected increase the value ...

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205 few houses. The rules in regard to comthe same as under Part I., excepting that may be made if the improvements to be effected increase the value of other property held by the same owner.Under Part II., as under Part I., the land acquired must be sold within ten years unless otherwise decided by the Secretary of State ; and he also determines what proportion. of the cost shall be paid by the local authority and what by the County Council. To carry out such schemes the County Council has borrowing powers and may lend borrowed money to the district authority. We now come to the much-discussed Part IIL, which seeks. to amend and consolidate the Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Acts of 1851 to 1867. It first extends the meaning. of the terms used so as to include a cottage with, a garden of not more than half an acre, if the ground value does not exceed £3per annum. Power is given for compulsory purchase of land, for the erection of lodging-houses, for fitting and furnishing the same, but, the scheme for such purchase must be made public and the petitions in favour and against it submitted to the Secretary of State who may dismiss them or order further inquiries to be made. Then a provisional order sanctioning the compulsory acquisition of the lands may be issued, but it must one served on all concerned and confirmed by an Act of Parliament. If sanctioned the compensation to be paid is settled according to the Lands Clauses Consolidation Acts of 1845, 1860, 1869, and the special clauses of Parts I. and II. of the present Act. But the most salient feature of Part 111. is that it confers no power to sell or lease the land purchased under this part of the Act ; therefore, the Council was itself obliged to erect, manage, and let the lodgings or tenements to be built on the land. The land could only be sold when other land better suited for the purpose could be purchased with the price realised. Further, if lodging-houses have been open for seven years or more and have becomeunnecessary or too expensive they may be sold if the Secretary of State approves. The borrowing powers are the same as under Part I. and various kinds of corporations, trusts, &c., may borrow and various public bodies may lend money forthe erection of working-class dwellings. On paper this Act, and especially Part III., gives promise of prompt reform;. in practice its application has been found cumbersome and expensive. It is the question of compensation which, in spite of amendments and modifications, continues to occasion wearisome, prolonged, and expensive litigation. The next legislative enactment was the Public Health (London) Act of 1891, giving effect to many of the recommendations made by the Royal Commission of 1884. It emphasises the duty of the district authorities to inspect and abate nuisances and to prevent overcrowding. Provision is made for petty sessional courts to deal summarily with such cases by means of prohibition and closing orders ; and where two convictions for overcrowding have occurred within three months the court may order the house to be closed for such time as it may deem necessary. The borough councils must now fix what number of persons may occupy each room in a house let in lodgings or occupied by the members of more than one family, and must provide for the separation of the sexes, for the registration of houses so let or occupied, for the inspection of such houses, for their proper drainage, cleanliness, and ventilation, for the cleansing and limewashing at stated intervals, and for the taking of proper precautions in case of any infectious disease. If the borough councils fail to carry out these regulations the County Council may take action, and the expenses of such action may be recovered by the County Council from the borough council which has neglected its duty. Or, again, the County Council may complain to the Local Government Board if a borough council is neglectful and the Local Government Board may by writ of mandamus force the borough council to take the necessary measures. Here again, if written laws were of themselves able to alter social and economical conditions, it would be thought that, in the face of such stringent enactments, insanitary dwellings and overcrowding would vanish away as if by magic ; and yet all those who are personally acquainted with the conditions under which the London poor live are painfully aware how far we are from attaining any such ideal conditions. The London Building Acts of 1894 and 1898 regulate the amount of open space that must be provided in all new streets both in front and at the back of the houses and this in proportion to the height of the houses. No house is to be built to a height of more than 80 feet, exclusive of

be applied to HISTORY OF THE HOUSING QUESTION pensation are deductions

IN LONDON. PART 11.1

COUNTY COUNCIL. IT was not, as we have seen, till 1889 that London at last possessed a municipality. It is true that instead of being called the Municipal Council of London it is denominated the County Council, and that instead of having its headquarters in the City the very heart of the metropolis has been subtracted from the metropolitan jurisdiction and still continues to govern itself as if it This is one of those many anomalies were a separate town. in which the British nation seems to take special delight and helps to confirm the opinion, widely entertained on the continent, that all Englishmen are more or less eccentric. This is not, however, the time or place to discuss whether the City should have been included as one of the constituencies of the London County Council. It is more to the present purpose to note that the County Council had no sooner been elected than it began to study what amendments were required to render the Acts on the housing question more effective, and it was able to make representations on the subject by the end of the first year. This was promptly followed by legislation, and we had the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890, so it cannot be said that much time was lost, at least at this stage of the proceeding. It would take much space to explain all the bearings of this Act. Divided into seven parts, the first three parts apply especially to London and the Part I. remainder to the provinces and to Scotland. constituted the County Council as the only authority for carrying out Cross’s Acts of 1875, 1879, and 1882, which were consolidated and amended and which deal with large areas. Of great practical importance was the creation of the post of medical officer of health to the County Council, thus bringing into existence a superior and supervising sanitary authority who is independent of the local vestries or district boards, now replaced by the new borough councils. Thus, if the smaller local authorities fail to act the medical -officer of the County Council can intervene, and the County Council can carry out a scheme where the local body fails. Then it is stipulated in Part I. of the Act of 1890 that the compensation paid to the expropriated proprietors of conr demned houses shall 11 be based on the rental which would have been obtainable if the house or premises were occupied for legal purposes and only by the number of persons whom the house or premises were, under all the circumstances of the case, fitted to accommodate without such overcrowding as is dangerous or injurious to the health of the inmates." Further, if the house was in such a condition as to create a nuisance the likely cost of doing away with such nuisance and putting the house in proper repair is to be deducted from the estimated value of the premises. Finally, if the house is in such an utterly dilapidated condition that it would be impossible to render it fit for habitation then the owner is only to be compensated for the value of the land and of the materials on it. With such stipulations it should be possible to reduce the compensation to be given to reasonable proportions. But property acquired under this Part I. of the Act has to be re-sold within ten years unless the Secretary of State shall otherwise decide. Part II. of the Act has for purpose to consolidate and amend Torrens’s Acts of 1868 and 1882. The Local Government Board and the Secretary of State are to supervise and confirm schemes carried out under this part of the Act. It deals with individual dwellings and obstructive buildings rather than with large areas. Both district authorities and the County Council may take action and they may close a house as unfit for habitation. If this does not suffice they may, having obtained a magistrate’s order, proceed to demolish the house. A house that merely obstructs ventilation may also be removed, and in that case the owner may, if he chooses, retain the land, but then he is only compensated for the building. The Local Government Board decides what provision, if any, must be made for re-housing the persons disturbed, but the question of rehousing ia not so urgent as this part of the Act can nnly UNDER

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Part I.

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THE

published in THE LANCET of Jan. 12th, 1901, p. 124.

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206 bbuild well, but for the moment this would increase the difficulties. A number of regulations were drawn up in regard c t the size of the rooms, the width of the stairs, the washthe houses must not be higher than the width of the to street. But though this rule only applies to new thorough- house 1 The staircase should be at least accommodation, &c. fares it has a retrospective action with respect to four feet wide, with a dado of hard glazed bricks. Closets f working-class dwellings that are built within 20 feet of the 13should have doors and windows opening directly to the open centre of any highway. The latter must not exceed in aair. No living room should be less than 144 square feet c bedroom less than 96 square feet, and at least nine feet height the width of the street whatever may be the date at or which they were built. For streets laid out after 1894 the 1high, and a dwelling-house should be at a distance of one space behind the houses must have a width of at least half eand a half times the height of the nearest obstructing the height of the house. If it is a working-class dwelling building. 1 But it was soon found that such regulations this space behind may not be covered up ; for other houses involved-too i great a cost, and the height of the rooms was it may be covered to the height of 16 feet only. rednced to 8 feet 6 inches and the width of the stairs to In 1894 there was yet another Housing of the Working3 feet 6 inches. Classes Act. This was to extend the borrowing powers By the time the County Council had been in office one limited by Part II. of the Act of 1890 to the purchase moneyyear the number of insanitary areas brought under its notice or compensation for properties acquired. But there arefamounted to 146. By the end of the year commnnications 1 been sent by the County Council to the vestries or many other heavy incidental expenses, such as the preparing, had < boards concerning 58 insanitary areas. About sanctioning, and confirming a scheme, costs and fees, the district laying out and sewering of new streets, &c., which had to betthree-fourths of these areas brought to the notice paid out of the current rates. The new Act sanctioned that
roof, without a special permission from the County Council, and in streets that are not more than 50 feet wide the

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207 that the tenants strive to block these openings by hanging up unsightly rags. Then the Local Government Board objected to staircases rising direct from the kitchen to the bedrooms above in cottages and also protested that the walls were not of sufficient thickness. Open staircases exposed to all weathers found favour with the Local Government Board, but were strongly objected to by the tenants, and a compromise had to be effected by putting windows in the lower part of the opening. Again, the tenants desired selfcontained instead of associated tenements, which, of course, cost somewhat dearer. In regard to the size of the rooms ,the Local Government Board and the Home Office agree to , the same standard, but the tenants do not agree and urge that every tenement should have at least one bedroom measuring 120 square feet instead of 110 square feet. On the other hand, the enormous cost of carrying out these schemes compelled the council, in the years 1898 and 1899, to revert to their minimum standard of 144 square feet. for living rooms and 96 square feet for bedrooms. Thus does the balance fluctuate, weighted down at one time by sanitary exigencies and at another by financial restrictions. Evidently the key to the solution of the difficulty is to be found in the financial side of the problem.

Middlesex

THE REPORTS OF THE WATER EXAMINER TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD ON THE METROPOLITAN WATER-SUPPLY. IN an annotation which appeared in THE LANCET some months ago1 on the monthly reports of the Water Examiner to the Local Government Board it was pointed out that the chemical examinations of the water made by the analyst appointed by the Board were less numerous than the importAt that time one examinaance of the matter demanded. tion per month was made of one specimen only of the water supplied by each company. We are glad to be able to record the fact that a larger number of specimens are now examined. The Water Examiner to the Local Government Board at length considers it desirable that the number of samples should be increased and that the places from which they are drawn should be more widely distributed over the areas supplied by the individual companies. Daring the months of August and September, 1900, from 12 to 14 samples of water were taken from the mains of each company. The examination of these samples was, however, confined to the estimation of the amount at two temperatures of oxygen consumed (which is taken as the measure of organic pollution), the amount of albuminoid ammonia (which is taken as the measure of nitrogenous organic pollution), and the degree of turbidity (which is taken as the indication of efficiency of filtration or of "disturbances in the mains "). The usual monthly analyses of one sample of each water supplied by each company has also been supplemented by like determinations as to the oxygen consumed and the amount of albuminoid ammonia present. We recommend that an examination of the Thames be made daily, supply of the East London at any rate during periods at which the Thames is at flood. No arrangements are made at the Thames station of the East London Company for the purification of water by sedimentation. The Thames water which is here nttsred is mixed with some well water pumped at the filtering station, and this mixed supply is pumped to one of the reservoirs of the East London Company. This reservoir is also supplied by water from the Lee Bridge works of the company. It is therefore advisable that an examination should be made of the water as it is drawn from the filter-beds of the company at the Thames station. Most of the monthly reports of the Water Examiner state that samples collected at the works of the companies were -efficiently filtered, but it is not stated that these results were arrived at by the analyst appointed by the Local Government Board, nor is there any indication that any special attention has been given to a determination of the effects of filtration without previous sedimentation of the Thames water distributed by the East London Company. Daring the months of August, September, October, and

Company

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THE

LANCET, Sept. 8th, 1900, p. 748.

November the condition of the natural Thames water was good throughout. The flow of the river was, during the greater part of the time, below the average summer level, and the rainfall during the period was small. Dr. T. E., Thorpe, F.R.S., the analyst appointed by the Local Government Board, reported that a sample drawn from the mains of the Lambeth Company during the month of August contained the highest proportion of organic carbon, and that the water supplied by the same company exhibtted the deepest average tint of brown. Taking the filtering area of the West Middlesex Company as the normal it may be noted that a corresponding area of the Lambeth Company is little more than half of what it should be; the filtering area per 1,(.00,000 gallons in the case of the West Middlesex Company is U’88 acre, that of the Lambeth Company is 0-48 acre. It may also be pointed out that the average rate of filtration is much greater in the case of the Lambeth Company than in that of the West Middlesex Company. The average rate of filtration per square foot per hour in the case of the West Middlesex Company during the month of August was 1’25 gallons and that of the Lambeth Company 2 20 gallons. The reserve capacity of the Lambeth Company also compares very disadvantageously with that of the West Middlesex Company. The capacities of the reservoirs for unfiltered water possessed by the West Company are capable of holding a supply sufficient for the wants of the company for 18-5 days, but the capacities of the reservoirs of the Lambeth Company are sufficient only to contain an amount of water for the supply of their customers for five days. During the month of September Dr. Thorpe examined 96 samples of the water supplied by the various companies, and the result showed that the amount of oxygen consumed was greatest in the case of the Lambeth Company; the Chelsea and Southwark and Vauxhall companies contained the greatest amount of albuminoid ammonia ; and the water supplied by the Lambeth Company exhibited the deepest During the month of October average tint of brown. 14 samples of the Grand Junction Company’s water eight were clear and four-which were drawn from a stand-pipe at Shepherd’s Bush-green-were distinctly opalescent and contained finely divided oxide of iron which the analyst believed was derived from the mains. The sample taken from the mains of the Grand Junction Company contained the highest proportion of organic carbon ; the water of the Lambeth Company exhibited the highest average tint of brown. The Grand Junction Company possesses a smaller relative reservoir capacity than any other company; it is even smaller than that of the Lambeth Company, and is sufficient only to supply the wants of the company for 2-9 days. The Water Examiner points out that the Grand Junction Company has the means during floods of pumping water from the gravel beds adjoining the Thames, and "this is practically equivalent to an addition to their storage reservoirs." There is no statement in the report, however, as to the quantity of water which is in fact derived from the gravel beds, nor is any estimate given as to what amount of reservoir capacity this gravel water is practically equivalent to. These are points it would be interesting to know. During the month of November the samples of water supplied by the Chelsea, Southwark and Vauxhall, New River, and East London companies were clear and that of the Grand Junction Company was also clear, except a specimen taken from a standpipe at Shepherd’s Bush which was turbid. The engineer of the company explained that in his opinion the turbidity was caused by the fact that the standpipe was near to the dead end of a main, and he further stated that the defect had been remedied. It is not stated by what means this was done. The water supplied by the Grand Junction Company again contained the highest proportional amount of organic carbon; the water of the Lambeth Company exhibited the deepest average tint of brown. The amount of organic matter in the supplies of all the Thames companies showed a slight increase over that found during the previous month and the greatest increase was noted in the case of the Grand Junction Company. The water supplied by the Kent Company during the whole period under review was, as usual, of excellent quality. ’

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