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Areas specially described in the reports of medical officers of health.
The medical officer of health of Kensington reports on the Notting-dale area. Acting on his
advice the Vestry of Kensington had requested the Council to acquire the houses under Part III. of
the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1870, " with a view to their utilisation as lodging-houses for
the working classes subject to regulations passed in accordance with the provisions of section 62." In
reply the Council stated that they were of opinion that Part III. of the Act being designed to facilitate
the provision of dwellings for the accommodation of persons of the working class in districts where the
need for such accommodation is felt would not be applicable to the Notting-dale area, and suggested
that the exercise by the vestry of powers of inspection and regulation of houses let in lodgings under
section 94 of the Public Health (London) Act was the proper course to adopt. The medical officer of
health states that " a further communication was addressed to the Council pointing out that the powers
referred to had been exercised and having been found to be inadequate for the purpose, the aid of the
Council as local authority under the Housing Act was desired," but this further request was not
complied with. He states the steps taken to improve the condition of the roads, yards and houses, and
says " the houses are, upon the whole, fairly well sanitated," and that the few houses not on the register
of houses let in lodgings have now been registered. In connection with this area he reminds his authority
that in 1893, on the recommendation of the sanitary committee, an additional sanitary inspector was
appointed to take exclusive charge of the area, but in 1896 a vacancy occurred in the staff of inspectors
and this was not filled up. " In July the sanitary committee, having ordered the issue of some 220
notices in respect of houses in Notting-dale it was proposed to appoint two additional inspectors, for
one month, to assist in supervising the execution of the required works, but the proposal was negatived
by the committee." In conclusion, he expresses the opinion that the vestry should have powers to put
Part III. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act in operation.
The medical officer of health of St. Pancras, discusses in connection with the Brantome-place
and Prospect-terrace Improvement Schemes, the requirements of the Local Government Board as to
rehousing. He writes—
The amount of cubic space to be allowed for persons occupying the new buildings proposed will
average probably double that occupied by persons now inhabiting the buildings. It follows that if the
higher standard were now adopted and applied to the existing buildings it would mean turning out onehalf
of the population. This, however, cannot be so applied as there is no legal machinery for applying
such a standard to old buildings. It therefore follows that, to put in force the Housing of the Working
Classes Act, the authority must practically provide double the amount of cubic space for the same
population, or to put it in another form, must rehouse twice the population they displace.
The medical officer of health of Bethnal-green states that in the south registration sub-district
are " three unhealthy areas which are veritable plague spots, and handicap all our attempts to reduce
the general death rate of an otherwise fairly healthy parish. In one of these areas the average death
rate of the past three years was no less than 40 per 1,000." He describes the condition of houses in
Collingwood-street, one of the unhealthy areas referred to, and which he represented under Part II. of
the Housing of the Working Classes Act. The houses represented, 29 in all, were closed under the
Act. A second area, consisting of 29 houses in Faith-street, was the subject of a special report by the
medical officer of health, who recommended that the houses should be demolished and the
site cleared. A copy of this report was forwarded to the Council, who suggested that the vestry should
take the necessary steps to obtain closing and demolition orders. " Temporary repairs," he writes,
" have been done to some of the houses, but the scheme still remains under consideration." A third
area having 86 houses with a population of 451 rooms was the subject of a special report. The houses are
situated in Pitt-street, Lucas-street, Archer-street and the east side of Pott-street, and concerning these
he writes that they " are so dilapidated and decayed as to be quite unfit for habitation, and that he is of
opinion that their continued occupation is injurious to the health of the inhabitants of these houses and
the neighbouring buildings," moreover " the sanitary defects thereof cannot be effectually remedied
otherwise than by an improvement scheme for the re-arrangement and re-construction of the streets
and houses within the area." He adds that the matter is still under consideration and will form the
subject of a further report.
The medical officer of health of Whitechapel regrets the delay in effecting the improvement of
the Bell-lane area and says that it remains in a worse state than ever, and that he fears it will be
necessary for him to ask the district board to intervene with regard to some parts of it.
The medical officer of health of Limehouse gives account of the steps taken in connection with
the King John's-court area, and states that he has made representations tinder Part II. of the Act
concerning houses in the Chusan-place area, some of which have been demolished.
The medical officer of health of Mile-end Oi l-town thus writes concerning the Lomas-buildings
area which it was proposed to improve under the Housing of the Working Classes Act—
With reference to the scheme of Lomas-buildings, which his been from time to time before you, I
hoped to be able to chronicle in this report that this insanitary area had been demolished; but I have, I
regret to say, to allude to the fact that, owing to ths refusal of the Local Government Board to sanction
it, the whole scheme has fallen through. This refusal was entirely due to the stipulation that new
buildings should be erected to provide for the people who would be displaced. The present and past
sanitary committees have, during the last few years, done all in their power to obtain the demolition.
The County Council consented to contribute half the cost, the vestry contributing the other half, and
all that was wanting was the sanction of the Local Government Board, but that body has evidently laid
down a hard and fast rule that in such cases new dwellings should be erected. It has been pointed out
to that body that there is ample accommodation in the immediate locality for more than all these people,
and that the vestry was not prepared to erect new dwellings. This condition of affairs is much to be
regretted, as this insanitary area is the greatest blot we have in the district. There is nothing which
tends to demoralise the working classes more than narrow, badly-lighted and unventilated courts.
The medical officer of health of St. George, Southwark states that he has " suggested that two
areas should be dealt with as ' unhealthy' as defined by the Act. These areas are (1) Grotto place,