London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1909
Annual report of Medical Officer of Health for 1909
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56
REGISTERED LODGING-HOUSES.
Public Health (London) Act, 1891, Sec. 94.
The Corporation, as the Sanitary Authority in the City, are required, under
the provisions of Sec. 94 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, to make and
enforce Bye-laws applying to houses let in lodgings or occupied by members
of more than one family for the following purposes:—
For regulating the number of persons and separation of the sexes.
For the registration and inspection of such houses.
For enforcing drainage, and promoting cleanliness and ventilation.
For the cleansing and lime-washing of the premises at stated times.
For the taking of precautions in any case of infectious disease.
The Bye-laws now in force in the City for this class of property were
made by the Court of Common Council on 24th November, 1904, and
confirmed by the Local Government Board on the 20th January, 1905.
Unfurnished lodgings, when the rent is not less than 10s. a week, and
furnished lodgings when the rent is not less than 12s 6d. a week, are
exempt from the operations of the Bye-laws.
Particulars relating to the registered Lodging-houses in the City now on the Register are given in the accompanying table:— Registered Lodging-houses.
| District. | No. of Houses on Register. | No. of Lodgers. | No. of Tenements. | Average No. of Persons per Tenement. | Cleansing Notices Served. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West | 129 | 1,045 | 428 | 2.44 | 174 |
| Middle | 37 | 89 | 42 | 2.12 | 17 |
| East | 120 | 812 | 841 | 2.38 | 142 |
| Total | 286 | 1,946 | 811 | 2.39 | 333 |
These are periodically inspected, and in April of each year their owners
called upon to undertake a thorough cleansing of them, in accordance with
the provisions of your Bye-laws. This necessitated the service of a total of
333 Notices during the year.
A list of registered Lodging-houses is given in Appendix C (p. 148).