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54
HOUSING.
The Millbank Improvement Scheme.
The overflowing of the Thames on the night of 6th-7th January and
the damage which followed focussed attention on the housing conditions
in the riverside area, a result always likely to happen where the destructive
forces of Nature, he they fire, wind or water, play havoc with the defences
which man has devised to protect himself against them. A general
outline of the circumstances of the flood and of the measures taken to
provide shelter and to make good the losses suffered by those whose homes
were flooded was given in the preface to the report of last year. It was
mentioned there that an Improvement Scheme was in contemplation,
which it was hoped to promote in a private Bill. It was felt that owing
to the peculiar circumstances which had arisen, largely owing to the flood,
a more expeditious method of dealing with the area would be by the
promotion of a late Bill in the parliamentary session of 1928 rather than
by proceeding under Part II of the Housing Act, which deals with insanitary
areas. In this instance the Council was dealing with an owner
who not only had no desire to oppose an improvement scheme but who
was most anxious by every means in his power to hasten the work of
restoration of the devastated area and, further, to help replace the affected
working-class dwellings by new and more roomy dwellings fitted with
every convenience likely to increase comfort in the home and to raise the
standard of living. The hope that there would be time to promote a late
Bill was unfortunately not fulfilled owing to the nature of the negotiations
which had to take place between the owner (the Duke of Westminster) and
the Council. The scheme, however, was completed in the autumn, and the
Bill embodying the scheme was deposited in November, 1928. It was
passed through Parliament in the spring and received the Royal Assent
this month (May, 1929). Stated briefly, the scheme is as follows: The
whole of the Millbank estate is to be rebuilt, while existing working-class
dwellings, together with other buildings, will gradually be demolished. The
Duke has given to the Council an area of land sufficient to contain 604
working-class dwellings (this figure corresponds to the number of families
residing in the area on the night of the flood). In addition to this gift
the Duke will contribute a capital sum of £113,650 towards the cost of the
new dwellings and, further, will contribute a considerable sum towards
the making of certain new streets. The total money value of the Duke's
gift, including the estimated value of the land is not far short of £310,000,
and the cost of the scheme to the Council will be about £350,000.
The capital value of this improvement scheme may therefore be
reckoned about £700,000. The enormous cost of building working-class
dwellings in Westminster is of sufficient moment to call for remark. If