View report page

44
The great difficulty in all improvement schemes is re-housing the persons
displaced. Demolition being for the purpose of opening up to light and air,
it is often not desirable to re-bouse on all or even part of a site. To measure
the amount of re-housing desirable by the number of persons displaced is
very misleading, for whereas the old occupiers were housed in a minimum
of cubic space, the new occupiers will demand a maximum, the amount of
re-housing should therefore be measured by cubic space rather than by
number of persons. It would seem a reasonable course to pursue to ascertain
the amount of inhabited cubic housing space to be demolished, and to
replace as much of this cubic housing space upon as much of the area as is
compatible with the London Building Act. If it is absolutely necessary for
the Authority to provide the rest of the required re-housing space, it is placed
in a difficult position. Surrounded on all sides by crowded areas this can only
be accomplished, either by building upon open spaces—such a remedy being
worse than the disease—or by erecting dwellings out of town, and this can be
done as well, if not better, by private effort as by a Public Authority, It
might be worth considering whether a Public Authority could not contract
with a private individual to supply the requisite cubic re-housing space as
near the site of demolition as possible, or, if need be, out of town. But, after
all, however the accommodation is supplied, who is to undertake that the
persons displaced shall go into any new buildings provided ? The only
reasonable conclusion that can be come to with regard to re-housing after
demolition is that it should be made incumbent upon the Authority to utilise
the space to the best advantage, and to the fullest extent permitted by the London
Building Act. To demand more than this is to demand the impossible.
CUSTOMS AND INLAND REVENUE ACTS, 1890 & 1891.
Certificates have been granted under these Acts in cases where the houses
have been found to be constructed in conformity with the Metropolitan
Building Acts, the Metropolis Local Management Acts, the Public Health
(Loudon) Act, and the following additional requirements in respect of each
house : —
1.—That each of the persons inhabiting it is provided with at least four
hundred cubic feet of air space.
2.—That each of the living or sleeping rooms is at least eight feet in
height, and at least ninety-six square feet in area.
3. —That there is at least one draw-tap and sink, with a sufficient supply
of water thereto, for every twelve occupants or less, on each floor.
4.—That there is at least one water closet, properly supplied with water,
for every twelve occupants or less, on each floor.
5.—That the drainage of the premises is in accordance with the
Regulations recognised by this Authority.
6.—That accommodation for clothes-washing is provided, sufficient for
the number of persons inhabiting the house.