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61
tenements. Except in the areas mentioned below they
are fairly well situated as regards light and air. The
general character of the building must be described as
inferior; for during the time when building was most
active in Fulham there was. very inadequate supervision,
and it was not uncommon to find serious defects,
due to the bad quality of the material used and faulty
workmanship in houses which had been quite recently
erected.
The other working-class houses comprise threestoried
houses, some with basement rooms, situated in
the older parts of the borough, which are let to three or
more families, and have not been adapted for the purpose,
and three-storied houses constructed for three
families in which the lowest tenement is "underground,"
i.e., 3 ft. below the level of the street.
(b) General Character of the Defects found to exist in
unfit Houses.—Speaking broadly, the chief defects in
the two-storey houses are general dilapidation and dirt.
The drainage is, as a rule, satisfactory, and the sanitary
appliances are adequate and in fair order. In some
the roofs require attention, the paving of many yards
is defective, the rooms are damp and dirty, and
more or less dilapidated walls and ceilings are very
common. These defects are all remediable without
closing the premises, and will not entail any great
expense on the owners.
In the three-story houses occupied by several
families, in addition to general repairs, structural
alterations will in most cases be required to render
them reasonably fit in all respects for habitation, since,
as a rule, water will have to be laid on to the upper
floors and additional sanitary conveniences will often
be needed. The basement houses afford a difficult
problem, as many of them, owing to insufficient light
and ventilation, are really unfit for habitation, but
until the house shortage in Greater London is relieved
the disuse of them cannot be enforced.
2. Action taken as regards unfit Houses under (a) the
Public Health Acts, (b) the Housing Acts.—Action