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61
Inspectors has impressed upon both owners and tenants their determine
tion that every dwelling house shall be maintained in a reasonable state
of repair and that there shall be systematic observance of cleanliness.
A large area in the north-western district of the Borough contain
many houses which are old, worn out and require constant repairs and
renovations, and this area in 1931 was the subject of an official representation
made by me under the Housing Act.
One of the most unsatisfactory features in this, as in other boroughsis
the presence of a large number of houses let in lodgings. These houses
were not constructed for the purposes to which they are now put. The
use of staircases, washhouses, yards, waterclosets, ashbins, etc., in
common leads to misuse and neglect, and the general environment is
not prone to the cultivation of habits of self-respect, morality or healthMany
such houses are without adequate provision for the cooking or
storage of food, and housework is carried on at great inconvenience.
While the great majority of these houses are structurally sound, a
number of them are old, worn out and below the modern standards of
sanitation and convenience. It is probable that only a minority of the
tenants would be able to pay economic rents for alternative accomo-
dation, having regard to the rents that required to be fixed for new
dwellings owing to the greatly increased cost of land and construction
during recent years.
Another problem is caused by certain old people, usually womenMany
of these live alone in a single room with no one to look after themFrequently
they rely almost entirely on the Old Age Pension for sustenance.
Gradually growing feebler with the passage of time, they
eventually become unable properly to care for themselves or their homesAlthough
every means of persuasion is tried, these cases usually decline
to enter a Poor Law Institution and the condition often persists for a
lengthened period. Fortunately, this problem has now been met by
legislation. Under the London County Council (General Powers) Act
1928, it is possible to arrange for the removal of such cases to a suitable
institution.
While in the majority of instances the defects found to exist in unfit
houses are due to the lack of proper management and supervision by
owners, from time to time complaints are made by the owners regarding
the difficulties they experience in keeping their property in a reasonable
state of repair because of the dirty and destructive habits of a number
of their tenants. It is alleged that, through carelessness or wilful damage
by tenants, repairs and cleansing have to be carried out with unreasonable
frequency and that, as a consequence, it is impossible to maintain even
the minimum requirements of the Local Authority without incurring
financial loss.
Investigation has shown that these statements are often well founded
especially in the poorer class tenement lodging houses where no responsible
caretaker or landlord is resident. To lighten the difficulties of the
owner in these cases, effort is made, as far as possible, to keep in view
such powers as a Local Authority has of holding the tenant responsible
for defects resulting from his neglect or default.