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II.
dwellings had been tho subject of repeated surveys by the officers of tho Public
Health Department and were kept in a reasonably fit state of habitation only by
frequent repairs. The rents were low and in no case were there the conveniences and
amenities usually accepted as necessary adjuncts in modern working-class dwellings.
Age and decay had set their seal on the structure? and nothing short of closing orders
and reconstruction would have given a satisfactory answer to a growing problem.
Even this answer would have caused intense hardship by depriving the sitting tenants
of their homes without replacing them. The flood had further aggravated the progress
of dilapidation and had made some 40 dwellings entirely unfit for habitation
although in a number of instances the occupiers remained because there was nowhere
else for them to go, while others obtained temporary refuge with relatives or
friends in the locality or elsewhere.
It was within a few days of the flood that the Mayor, Mr. Jacques Abady, who had
seen with his own eyes the pitiful plight of many of the tenants in the Millbank
area was inspired with the possibilities of an improvement scheme. He saw the area
replanned and reconstructed with as many working-class dwellings as existed on
the night of the flood. But they would be modern dwellings, each with its own
cooking, washing and sanitary arrangements and let at rents consistent with those
of the old dwellings, except in cases where additional rooms were required to relieve
overcrowding.
The Mayor lost no time in broaching his scheme to the Trustees of the Grosvenor
Estate and found them as gravely concerned with the living conditions in the Millbank
Estate as he was himself. They had already given a very handsome contribution
to the relief fund and they fell in whole-heartedly with the Mayor's proposals.
The extent to which the Grosvenor Estate has assistad in transforming these ideals
into a concrete improvement Scheme has already been mentioned in this report.
The spirit which prompted such munificence in gifts of land and money for the welfare
and happiness of his tenants belongs to the Duke of Westminster himself.
The Scheme, in addition to the provision of new working-class dwellings
to replace the old, has for its objective the improvement and development of
the whole area by sweeping away old and derelict commercial premises and other
buildings. New streets will be formed while some of those existing will disappear.
Large buildings such as offices and workshops will be erected which besides
furnishing opportunities for the employment of the local population will greatly
increase the rate income of the City. Possibly also there may be numbers of residential
flats so that the schcme when completed will offer an example of town
planning as applied to one of the most important districts of central London.
The illustrations attached show (1) Sketch-plan of the Millbank Estate, (2)
Perspective view of proposed new working-class dwellings designed by Sir Edward
Lutyens, (3) Certain photographs indicating the types of old dwellings which it is
intended to demolish and replace.
Ebury Bridge Housing Scheme.
Three illustrations are included on pages x, XI and xII. The first gives a perspective
view of the Housing Schcme which was initiated at the suggestion of Capt.
J. C. Dalton, the chairman of a special committee of the Council whose reference is a
survey of all freehold and leasehold properties belonging to the Council. The Housing
Scheme designed by the firm of Ashley and Newman, F.F.R.I.B.A., who have completed
so successfully other housing schemes of the Council will provide 210 working-class
flats and 16 shops. The rents of the flats will be on a similar scale to those obtaining