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Houses Let in Lodgings.
The number of houses on the register as houses let in
lodgings at the beginning of the year was 82, and during the
year 39 were added, making a total of 121. Had the revised
bye-laws been sanctioned during 1903 the number of houses
registered would have been materially increased.
Some misconception exists as to the object aimed at by
those who advocate increased administrative action under the
bye-laws relating to houses let in lodings. That object is
to bring under systematic supervision and effective sanitary
regulation a class of house which is well known to all who
are acquainted with the conditions under which the poor are
housed in London. This is the tenement house, especially the
house of three or more stories originally built for one family,
but now, the character of the locality having changed, occulied
by three or more families. It is very seldom that any
structural alterations are carried out to fit these houses for
occupation by several families, and their sanitary, or rather,
insanitary, condition is often deplorable.
It is, however, impossible to frame bye-laws to apply to
all the houses which it is desirable to register without also
including within the scope of the bye-laws houses which,
though technically lodging houses, are occupied by an
entirely different class of tenants and do not require frequent
inspection. To apply the provisions of the bye-laws to the
latter class of houses would be a waste of energy, and would
necessitate a much larger number of inspectors than any
Sanitary Authority is ever likely to think of employing. The
object of the bye-laws, in short, is to bring a special sanitary
code to bear on a class of house which is well known to need
it, and the work of supervising such houses is enough to
tax the energy of the most zealous Sanitary Authority.
The chief advantages which can be secured by registration
are as follows :—
(1) The sanitary officers have absolute power to enter a
registered house at any time. Entry into an ordinary house