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73
Houghton Street and Stanhope Street, in connection with the Kingsway
scheme, have been closed, displacing 71 persons. About 100 persons
have been displaced by the demolition of houses in Eccleston Place, and
34 by the closure of a house in St. Anne's Court. The imminent closure
of certain houses in St. John's Ward will displace about 80 persons. It
is proposed by the County Council to build a new school in place of that
in Horseferry Road on a site not yet settled in Victoria Ward. A plot
of ground with some 50 houses on it has been acquired by the Peabody
Trustees between Vauxhall Bridge Road and Willow Street, and
building operations are expected to be proceeded with during 1911, when
seven blocks of buildings will be erected.
Houses Let in Lodgings.
The number of houses in 1910 was reduced by 34 through closure,
and as none were added in that year, the number on the register at the
end of the year was 1,447; to this class of house 7,507 visits were
recorded as having been paid, but more were actually paid. Overcrowding
was found in 63 instances, and 1,292 other defects were found and
remedied. Particulars are included in the general list given at the
beginning of this part of the Report.
Regulation of Cheap Furnished Rooms.—In 1909 the London County
Council addressed a letter to the City Council on the above subject, and
asked their opinion as to the manner they considered best for dealing
with the difficulties which had been found to exist. The City Council
were of opinion that the local Sanitary Authority should be invested
with power to inspect and enforce a certain standard of requirements in
such cases. (A statement embodying the County Council's letter and
this Council's action is given on pp. 80.81 of my Annual Report for
1909.)
The Council of the Borough of Kensington have incorporated a
clause in their By.laws for houses let in lodgings, which has been
sanctioned by the Local Government Board, requiring that:—
" Subject to the provisions of these By.laws, a keeper of a lodging
house in which rooms are let in furnished lodgings shall cause
the bedding and other articles in such rooms to be at all times
maintained in a clean and wholesome condition."
I suggested that if a similar provision were added to the City of
Westminster By.laws it would provide, to a certain extent, the increased
control which the Council thought it desirable to have. The Council
adopted the suggestion, and have submitted to the Local Government
Board a similar By.law, altering the word " keeper" to " landlord," to
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