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of 1890. The estimate of the total gross cost of the scheme, exclusive of the cost of any new dwellings
to be erected, amounts to £106,000, made up as follows—Bell-lane area, gross cost of acquisition of
property, £75.000 ; cost of roads, etc., £15,000 ; total, £90,000 ; Ellen-street area, gross cost of acquisition
of property, £16,000. The scheme having been submitted to the Minister of Health for confirmation,
a local inquiry in regard thereto was held on 29th October and 1st, 4th, 5th and 8th
November, 1920.
Hickman's
Folly area.
An official representation under Part I. of the Housing Act of 1890, with reference to an area
known as the Hickman's Folly area having been made to the Council on 6th Januarv, 1920, by the medical
officer of health of Bermondsey, the Council on 20th July, 1920, considered certain propsals for dealing
with a part (3½ acres) of the area by means of an improvement scheme. The Council was not satisfied
that the scheme proposed was sufficiently comprehensive for dealing adequately with the evils existing in
the area and the whole question is being reconsidered in consultation with the local authority.
Eents.
In view of the provisions of the Increase of Rent, etc. (Restrictions), Act, 1920, the Council considered
the question of the desirability of increasing the rents charged in respect of its dwellings, and,
after consideration of all the circumstances, decided on 27th July, 1920, that the rents should be increased
by the full amounts allowed by the Act. The Council had already on 3rd February, 1920, decided
that the rents of shops and workshops on its housing estates should be fixed and revised from time to
time on the basis of current conditions of letting in the respective localities.
On 15th May, 1920, the charges for accommodation at the Council's lodging houses were revised
and fixed as follows:—
(i) Bruce-house—Ordinary cubicle, 1s. a night, or 6s. a week for not more than 400 a
week; special cubicle, 1s. 3d. a night, or 7s. 6d. a week; special bedroom, 1s. 6d. a night, or
9s. a week.
(ii) Carrington-house—Ordinary cubicle, 1s. a night, or 6s. a week ; special cubicle, 1s. 3d.
a night, or 7s. 6d. a week.
(iii) Parker-street-house—Ordinary cubicle, lOd. a night, or 5s. a week.
Oarrington
House.
In view of the large number of unoccupied cubicles at Carrington House, the Council considered
whether the vacant accommodation could be put to some useful and profitable purpose. Several
proposals for utilising the accommodation had been found unsatisfactory on account of the heavy cost
of the work of adaptation. The only suggestion that would bear the financial test was one for the
conversion of a number of ordinary cubicles into a smaller number of special cubicles or bedrooms
provided with additional furniture and let to a different class of lodger who could afford to pay for better
accommodation. On 21st December, 1920, the Council voted £1,550 for the conversion of 80 cubicles
on the second floor and for the cost of the necessary furniture. It is proposed to proceed with the
scheme by instalments as and when experience may demonstrate the extent of the demand for the better
accommodation.
Selection of
tenants.
Before the war it was the general practice for the Council, upon the receipt of satisfactory references,
to accept tenants in the order in which their applications were received. Preference' was given (a)
to persons displaced through the acquisition by the Council of property for clearance or improvement
schemes or other public purposes and (6) to persons already residing in the county. This preference
still holds good. Owing to the shortage of housing accommodation since the war the Council has from
time to time, given temporarily further preferences as follows—(i) To persons who gave up their homes
in order to join H.M. Forces or to undertake other work of national importance, including a small number
of instructors of the Territorial Force Association ; (ii) to ex-firemen who are required to vacate quarters
at fire stations ; (iii) to members of the staff, to the extent of 5 per cent, of the houses provided ; (iv)
on the Grove Park site and at Bellingham, to families from the metropolitan boroughs of Bermondsey
and Deptford in the proportion of one out of every ten houses provided, up to a maximum of 1,400
houses on the two estates. The last-mentioned preference is granted in view of the accessibility of the
sites to persons residing in the boroughs named and of the fact that the Grove Park scheme was originally
promoted by the local authorities. On the Old Oak estate special consideration is given to the claims
of persons living in overcrowded conditions in some neighbouring boroughs upon representations by the
local medical officer. With a view to facilitating the work of development a limited number of houses
on certain of the new estates are placed temporarily at the disposal of the contractors, subject to the payment
of the approved rents, for the accommodation of skilled workmen engaged in the execution of contracts.
In order at the same time to make full use of all available accommodation the Council has
adopted the following general principles :—(i) Applicants are to be allotted houses and tenements not
larger than are deemed to be sufficient to meet the reasonable needs of the families, taking into consideration
the sex and ages of the children and the bedroom accommodation required ; (ii) no person
residing alone is to be accepted as a tenant; and (iii) not more than two rooms are to be allotted to a
married couple without children or to two single women living together. Subject to these conditions
applications for tenancies are entertained strictlv in the order in which they are re eived.
Cost of
building.
The increase in the cost of building which has taken place in recent years has caused the Council
great anxiety, in view of the magnitude of the operations undertaken to meet the housing needs of the
county. The increase is necessarily reflected not only in the higher rents which have to be charged to
meet maintenance as well as debt charges but also in the much larger deficiency to be met out of public
funds. The cost of building towards the end of 1920 approached three and a half times as much as it was
before the war, the increase' being due to the extra cost of both labour and materials. The rates of pay
of a mechanic and a labourer were on an average 178 per cent, above those current in 1914. The cost
of labour was also greatly influenced by diminution in output, due partly to the loss to the building
industry of many of the higher grade workmen owing to the war.