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itself, but it contributes in no appreciable degree to the solution of the difficulty
of housing the poorest, a difficulty never likely to be effectually dealt with under Part I. of the
Act of 1890, but which might possibly be to, some extent solved under the provisions of Part
III., should Parliament see fit to enable the borough councils to acquire slums at their nroper
value—that is, the value of the land, as housing sites, plus the value of the materials of the
buildings thereon. There is the more reason for a drastic measure of this sort, as it would
appear that the County Council, alarmed at the cost of acquisition of properties, is not likely to
undertake other such large and expensive schemes. It will be remembered that the Council
would not entertain the request of the late Vestry to deal with our " Special Area" (no" slum"!)
under Part III., though there was every reason to believe that the properties proposed to be
acquired as lodging-houses might have been purchased on terms to yield a good profit in rent.
and although the death-rate of the district exceeds that of the Boundary-street area—40 per
1,000—a rate whioh was deemed to justify the gigantic outlay on the scheme, made at the charge
of the Metropolis generally, and mainly for the benefit of Bethnal-green and Shoreditch.
The descriptive pamphlet relating to the Boundary-street scheme referred to, furnished
information with respect to other schemes completed, or in course of execution, by the Council.
It stated that in the clearance only of insanitary areas, the Council was spending £1,114,800,
for which some 35 acres of old, dilapidated and insanitary dwellings would be demolished, 16,160
persons being displaced. About 1,900 tenements, affording accommodation for 10,060 persons,
were already completed and occupied; these buildings, including the value of the land, cost
£609,438. Nearly 1,200 tenements, affording accommodation for 5,900 persons, were in course
of construction, at a cost for building, including value of land for housing purposes, of £327,000.
Plans, moreover, were being prepared for 3,718 tenements, for 19,990 persons, at a cost for
buildings and land estimated at £1,008,799. In all, the Council had provided, or were providing,
accommodation, in 6,810 tenements, for 35,950 persons at a total outlay of £1,945,277. In
addition, 5,251 persons were to be accommodated in areas to be cleared ; but the cost of this work
had not been estimated. In the aggregate of the schemes, it was stated, buildings equivalent to
a town of nearly 36,000 inhabitants, that is of the size of Macclesfield, in Cheshire, will have
been constructed at the expenditure of nearly two millions sterling—say, £55 per head of the
population housed.
Some of the improvements carried out by the Council comprise very limited areas, and
possibly proceedings could have been taken under Part III. of the Housing of the Working
Classes Act, 1890, which consolidates and amends the Acts, 1851 to 1885, commonly known as
Shaftesbury's Acts, its object being the provision of suitable houses and cottages for the
working classes, whether by acquiring land and erecting new buildings, or by the purchase of
existing lodging-houses by the " Local Authority." The late Vestry, on more than one occasion,
as already stated, requested the Council to purchase the lodging-houses in the " Notting Dale"
special area with this object. The borough council may, by adopting Part III., become a local
authority under the Act, and will have power to purchase, and arrange for the management of,
these houses under bye-laws, as explained in the annual report for 1897 (page 142).
Under Part I. of the Act of 1890, special provision is made (in Sec. 21) as to compensation,
with the object of limiting the amount to be paid for a house or premises, the rental of which
had been enhanced by reason of the same being used for illegal purposes ; or in case of the
premises being so overcrowded as to be dangerous or injurious to the health of the inmates; or
in such a condition as to be a nuisance ; or in a state of defective sanitation ; or not in reasonably
good repair. Should the house or premises be unfit, and not reasonably capable of being made
fit, for human habitation, the compensation to be awarded by the arbitrator is based on " the
value of the land, and of the materials of the buildings thereon." Under Part III., however, it
would appear that, in the present state of the law, whatever the condition or the mode of
occupation of the houses acquired, full compensation, with allowance for compulsory purchase,,
must be awarded, a defect in the law which calls for amendment.
All that has been here said goes to show the practical impossibility of giving effect to
the provisions of the Act, under Part I., to any adequate extent, excepting at a prohibitive
cost. The more hopeful plan for dealing with the question of the housing of the working
classes would seem to be that of securing a reduction of rents in town, by bringing the country
into competition; by the erection of cottages, and by increased travelling facilities, a subject to
which attention has been called in these reports on more than one occasion, and long ago. The
Amending Act of 1900 affords facilities to the County Council, and to any borough council
which may adopt Part III. of the Act of 1890, for the acquisition of land outside the county,
and beyond the district of the borough council; and it may be expected that steps will be taken,
ere long, to give at least experimental trial to the plan which, if associated with increased
travelling facilities, may do something towards the solution of the most difficult sanitary
problem of the new century.
Bye-Laws for Houses Let in Lodgings or Occupied by Members of more than One
Family.—Under the provisions of the Sanitary Acts of 1866 and 1874, regulations were made by
the late Vestry, in 1885, and upwards of 1,700 houses have been registered thereunder. The said