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149
HOUSES LET IN LODGINGS.
No house has been registered during 1902.
The 371 registered houses have been inspected regularly, and
they are, consequently, in a fair sanitary condition. The practice
adopted by the Borough Council is to decide what houses shall
be registered, it not being compulsory to register all the houses
that are let in lodgings throughout the Borough, nor would such
a course of action be desirable.
Bye-law 2 reads as follows:—
A lodging house shall be exempt from the operation
of these Bye-laws until the landlord of such lodginghouse
shall have been required to furnish the statement
of particulars necessary for the registration of such
house.
The difficulty in dealing with the Registered Houses is in connection
with the annual cleansing, which is to be carried out by
the landlord, who is often a person of limited means, with the
result that the work is not done. To take legal proceedings
against such an one would be an injustice, and further would
fail to accomplish the end desired, as, under the Bye-laws, the
Magistrate has not power to make an Order for work to be done,
but merely to inflict a penalty. Proceedings under Section 2
of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, are more satisfactory.
Another difficulty is that the large majority of houses,
especially in the Inner Wards, are let out in lodgings, and would,
consequently, require registration if it were thought desirable
to register all lodging-houses. A very large addition to the present
sanitary staff would be required if all lodging-houses were
to be registered throughout the Borough, without any
ponding sanitary advantage in any way commensurate with the
extra expense involved. If it is thought to be advisable, or
practicable, for all houses to be inspected regularly and systematically,
a house-to-house inspection, with the serving of notices,
as required under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, will
give much more satisfactory results, and could be carried out
with much less friction than a wholesale registration of houses
under the Bye-laws.