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W.C. accommodation but damp and dark, and with bad internal
arrangements and many other defects which combined together to
render them totally unfit for human habitation.
Thus it was that, when the 1914-1918 war was over, the problem
of housing the people engaged the earnest attention of the Council
at once. It was at this time also that changes in the political complexion
of the Council gave added impetus to the movement for
improving housing conditions. The major part of the work, so far
as housing was concerned, had fallen upon the Chief Sanitary Inspector
who, at first, was given the additional title of Housing Manager; he
was, however, subsequently designated Housing Director and put in
charge of a Housing Department separated from the Public Health
Department. Since that time, almost a hundred insanitary areas
have been dealt with, most of them being small areas, of course, but
all of them requiring each house to be individually inspected by the
Medical Officer of Health and the District Sanitary Inspector, the
necessary schedules to be prepared and, usually, the holding of a
public enquiry by a Ministry Inspector. The representation of these
areas remained, and still remains, a function of the Medical Officer of
Health while the provision of new housing accommodation and the
management thereof is allotted to the Housing Department.
So far as building in this Borough is concerned, the new accommodation
has, for obvious reasons, almost all been provided in flats;
one experiment was made, however, chiefly under the impetus given
by Dr. A. Salter, M.P., providing for the erection of cottages at the
Garden Estate in Salisbury Street. Although I suppose most folk
would prefer a house and a garden to a flat in which to bring up a
family, considerations of space and population in this Borough render
that alternative impossible. So it has come about here, as in other
parts, that the physical appearance of the whole area has changed.
Many problems have been encountered by the two departments but
they have been solved during the years by good will and understanding.
Standards have changed and have very much improved. It is
only necessary to compare the block of flats known as Vine Lane
Buildings, erected in 1884 by the London Labourers Dwelling Society
Ltd., with, say, the Neckinger Estate or Pynfolds to note the tremendous
improvement in design and amenity which has been achieved
under the Housing Department. Included among the many problems
still to be solved, however, is the dampness in some flats which is
often attributed to condensation, perhaps not altogether reasonably.
I think also that more attention should be given to management of
property where the adequate maintenance is largely a question of
personal care. It is for this reason that I have always insisted on the
necessity of " house to house " inspection by the District Sanitary
Inspectors who really are the only protection which the tenant has
against a bad landlord, whether it be a private owner or a public
authority. One other irritating difficulty which I have encountered
in this Borough is the very confusing method of naming and of
numbering flats.
Following on the subject of housing, I cannot help remarking