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That is to say, that, calculating on the census returns for 1901
(9,000 houses and 101,463 population in the Borough), 6.6 per cent.
of all the houses have been closed, and 4.2 per cent. of the
population have been displaced.
It is unnecessary to add that there are considerable changes
taking place in the use of house property, e.g., private dwellinghouses
being transformed into business premises without closure or
demolition of houses, which are not included in the above
returns.
Lastly, we have endeavoured to trace the destination of the
removals in the closed properties under our jurisdiction, that is
to say, the removals from the areas A, C, E, F and H, and from
the houses closed for street improvements, &c., with the result that
it is found about half the persons displaced leave the district, the other
half finding accommodation elsewhere in the Borough. A record is
kept of the destination of displaced persons as far as possible.
III.—THE MAINTENANCE OF SANITATION
IN HOUSE PROPERTY
The sanitary supervision of existing houses is one of the most
important parts of the housing question in Finsbury. It cannot be
doubted that the problem of housing in London is what it is to-day
very largely indeed because in the past strict sanitary supervision
of existing houses has been neglected. This sanitary supervision,
to be effective, must be two-fold in its application, namely, it must
deal (i) with house structure and sanitary maintenance (houses let
in lodgings, house to house inspections, etc.), and (ii) with overcrowding
of persons. During 1905 a large amount of time has
been devoted to this subject. For convenience it may be reported
in sections as follows :—
1. Houses let in Lodgings, etc.—When the Borough
was formed there were a number of houses let in lodgings, registered
under Bye-laws ot Section 94 of the Public Health (London) Act,
1891. Bye-laws first came into force in this district in 1897, and
from that year to 1900 the total number of houses registered in all