View report page

8
get hit at all. He just simply lets the house to one tenant, who
sub lets to the lodgers, and so becomes the legal registered keeper,
and, as such, liable for carrying out the Regulations, whilst the actual
landlord, rapacious or otherwise, is completely relieved of all trouble
about Tenement House Registration.
Undoubtedly, high rents and overcrowding act and react, the one
on the other, in a manner somewhat difficult to determine, but whilst
I have not found one single case where direct letting on an overcrowded
basis has made an increased rental possible, I have found
numerous instances where increase of rents has directly, and unquestionably,
led to overcrowding.
Rent Courts
required.
Of many instances I will take one of the most recent, and the
most outrageous. It will serve as a practical illustration to the
many.
Take a row of houses, not a slum, but in what is termed a
respectable street, and fairly good locality.
Decent Tenants
Harassed.
The houses are occupied by a clean, decent class of working
people, who, with a few exceptions, have kept their cottage to their
own family. Originally these houses were what may be termed very
moderately rented, and some few years back the rents were increased
one shilling per week.
On a recent change of ownership, each tenant had notice that
an increase of four shillings per week would be made in the rents.
Sub-lettiug to
get the rent
by tenants.
The result is that in every house one or more rooms will have
to be let, and in addition to their burden of increased rent, plus
the inconvenience of lodgers, all these decent people can be harassed
by Tenement House Regulations, which do not touch the landlord,
or reduce the rents one iota.
Many cases
similar.
There are many cases on similar lines which it is mere repetition
to refer to, but all of which go to show, what everyone with practical
acquaintance of the matter knew years ago, that deeper and broader
measures are required, and that Regulations provide no remedy.