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9
The house to house inspection of parts of Nos. 1 and 3 Wards went
to show that in some cases the sanitary arrangements were not up to
date; for instance, soil-pipes were found to be unventilated or in combination
with rain water pipes. I should advise that house to house
inspections should be continued in the older parts of the Borough as
time and opportunity occur.
The points where the greatest pressure for accommodation arises,
is undoubtedly in No. 2 Ward, and in the vicinity of Fleet Road.
Here high rents prevail, and the number of unoccupied rooms is very
small. The tramway and laundry industries, the presence of two or
three large factories, and the proximity to the densely populated parts
of St. Pancras, all contribute to this result. A block of workmen's
dwellings erected at this point, if let at market value, would be made to
pay a reasonable percentage and provide for a sinking fund.
The nearest approach to crowding in the Town Ward was found
to be about Flask Walk.
The chief difficulty in housing the working classes is found to be
in the case of people with three or four young children. Many landlords
prefer to remain unlet rather than take in children, who, from their
well-known destructive habits and noisy pastimes, are dreaded in a house
that is well-kept.
Under Part III. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act the
Local Authority, having adopted it, may:—
1.—Purchase land for the erection of dwelling houses for the
working classes.
2.—Contract for the purchase or lease of any lodging house for the
working classes already, or hereafter to be, built or provided.
3.—Erect dwellings suitable for lodging houses for the working
classes.
4.—Convert existing buildings into lodging houses, and for that
purpose may alter, enlarge, repair, and improve the same
respectively.