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115
dealt with under the Housing of the Working Classes
Act, as I strongly urged in 1901, but now the
erection of a Police Station and Barracks in the gardens
of the houses in F ulham Road, which back
on Heckfield Place, interferes, I vam afraid with any
general reconstruction scheme, as it would hardly be
practical to rehouse those displaced. Failing a complete
scheme of this nature, we must, I think, look
to what is known as the Octavia Hill method, to
effect a gradual improvement in the character of the
area, that is for the houses to be acquired by those
who, in addition to keeping the houses in good condition
and not allowing overcrowding, will, by constant
supervision, improve the character of the tenants,
and enforce as far as possible decent and
cleanly living.
This has been done successfully in similar areas,
where it has been found that, although a certain
proportion of the occupiers are irreclaimable, and can
only be dealt with by ejectment, a fair number can
with firmness and encouragement be converted to a
decent life.
As I was pleased to be able to report to you early
in the year, 23 houses have been acquired by Dr.
Schuster, and these methods are being tried. The
latest report is encouraging. The lady who looks
after the houses says: "Heckfield Place is at last
showing slight signs of improvement, no less than
six of the tenants having started scrubbing their
stairs and rooms. The tenants remaining seem to
realise that rent is a thing that must be paid, and
though there are still lapses, the average on the
whole is much better, and as the tenants I speak of
are old Heckfield habitues, it is distinctly hopeful.
Evictions, or rather notices, have had to be much
in evidence, but of the 22 tenants left, only one is
a non-Heckfield resident, brought in from another
street."