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in the case of, say, all two-storied tenement houses throughout
the Borough; and under the circumstances 1 am not
prepared to advise the Council to act in the way suggested
by the London County Council, but I am of opinion that
the Council should continue to deal with cases as they crop
up—treating each case on its individual merits. In the case
of new tenement buildings, or old buildings, adapted to be
used for tenements, a water supply to each tenement or
family should be, as far as practicable, insisted upon.
The powers of a Metropolitan Sanitary Authority over
the water supply of occupied houses is contained in Section
48, Sub-Section 1, of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891,
which reads as follows:—
"An occupied house without a proper and sufficient
supply of water shall be a nuisance liable to be dealt with
summarily under this Act, and if it is a dwelling-house,
shall be deemed to be unfit for human habitation."
In connection with this Section, it is the duty of a
Sanitary Authority to issue a certificate for any house which,
after the commencement of the Act, is newly erected, or is
pulled down to, or below, the ground floor and rebuilt, before
such house is occupied as a dwelling-house (but only
as a dwelling-house), stating that it has a proper and sufficient
supply of water, either from a Water Company or by
some other means. This duty is a new one, and has been
carried out throughout the Borough and late Parish of
Lambeth since the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, came
into force, and, though the provision contained in Section
48 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, is new, there
was a corresponding duty thrown upon Sanitary Authorities
under Section 6 of the Public Health (Water) Act, of 1878.
It is clear that a Sanitary Authority would not be justified
in asking an owner to alter the water supply of an
occupied house, in connection with which they had already
issued a certificate. In an exaggerated case, such as that
at Woolwich, action would, of course, be taken, as required,
in Lambeth under similar conditions, but it by no means follows
that, therefore, the Lambeth Borough Council would
be justified in systematically dealing with all occupied tenemented
houses throughout the Borough that have not a water
supply for the top (and each) floor.
Joseph Priestley.
May 1st, 1905.