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Twenty-four of the common lodging-houses, with accommodation for 730 persons (100 of
them in double beds) are comprised in the " Notting-dale " special area.
Control of Common Lodging-Houses.—A communication was received, in 1897, from the
late Vestry of the district of St. Margaret and St. John (now merged in the city of), Westminster,
expressing the opinion that the want of effective control over common lodging-houses was a serious
defect in the existing law, and urging the desirability of representations being made to the Home
Secretary with a view to the introduction of a Bill to consolidate, and transfer to the local (i.e., the
sanitary) authorities, the administration of the law relating to common lodging-houses, and to give
such authorities power to license such houses annually, with the consequent right to withhold any
license in the event of mismanagement or other sufficient reason. These views were endorsed by
the late Vestry of Kensington, and a communication to this effect was made to the Home Secretary,
and to the sanitary authorities. The Home Secretary, in reply, stated that he had referred the
communication to the Local Government Board, as he was of opinion that the question was one
which should be dealt with by that Board. Nothing further was done in the matter, nor is the
matter dealt with in the Local Government Act, 1899, which leaves the common lodging-houses
under the jurisdiction of the County Council.