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86
Work has been proceeding steadily on the requirements of provisional
orders under the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919
(Sect. 28), with regard to property owned by the Ecclessiastical Commissioners
in Brixton (VVyke area), and only a small number of houses
still remain unfinished.
General Considerations.
This is the fifth Report dealing with the work carried out by the
Council's two Housing Inspectors under the Housing, Town Planning,
etc., Act, 1919 (Section 28), and, with a view to justifying the appointment
of these two officers, the following statistics are of value, as
showing the work that has been done since their appointments, up to
and including December 31st, 1924—a period of 4½ years
1. Inspections made 2564
2. Works completed or houses closed—
(а) under provisional schedules 1882
(б) under legal schedules or notices 65
1947
3. Works not yet completed or not yet commenced—
(а) under provisional schedules 573
(б) under legal schedules or notices 44
617
The policy first adopted, when the Council appointed Housing
Inspectors in 1920, was to deal, in the first instance, with the worst
districts, and frame the requirements under the provisional schedules,
as required by the Housing, Town Planning, etc.. Act, 1919 (Section
28), on the assumption that it would not be possible to demolish any
unhealthy areas for at least a period of 10 years from that date. This
policy has been carried out, and it can now be fairly said that most of
the really black spots of the Borough have been dealt with, or are in
process of being dealt with. These areas consist generally of very old
and decayed houses, situated in badly-arranged and narrow streets and
courts, and occupied by tenants, many of whom have been born and
brought up in similar surroundings, and are, consequently, not likely to
be desirable tenants (from the owners' point of view) in any respectable
neighbourhoods. The houses being worn out, it is impossible to put
them into a satisfactory state of repair permanently, and all that can be
expected is to render them "reasonably fit in all respects for human
habitation," as stated in the Act. Unfortunately, the ownership of
much of this type of property is still in the hands of a class of person
whose only interest, owing in many cases to the terms on which they
hold the property, is to extract the maximum of income, without any
consideration to the comfort or even the health of the tenants; indeed,