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69
Sub-district of Putney and Roehampton.
which these bye-laws are being enforced. I believe they
have already made, or intend at an early date making,
a representation to the Local Government Board, in the
case of at least one authority which is not carrying out
the provisions of section 94 of the Act. My difficulty
in regard to the enforcement of these by-laws in this
sub-district may he stated shortly. The bye-laws exempt
only those houses where the lodgings are Jet at or above
8s. a week if unfurnished, and at or above 10s. a week
if furnished. Practically, nearly all the artisan class of
property, at least of recent construction, would be thus
placed, under the survey of these bye-laws. Rents of
houses for the working-classes arc now so high that one
very seldom finds that they are occupied only by one
family. As a rule a family occupies each floor. There
is a worse class of property in the district, generally of
a more ancient date. These were built doubtless when
ground was not so valuable, and are me ant for one family
only. A great deal of this property is now very dilapidated,
and is almost bad enough to be condemned as being
uninhabitable Now these houses, although decidedly
the most insanitary in the district, would not come
under the bye-laws at all, although requiring them most
urgently.
If we are to carry out the bye-laws as they are
evidently meant to be carried out, it means registering an
enormous number of houses. I should say roughly that
50 or 60 per cent. of the total number of houses in the
district would come under these bye-laws. This would
mean that perhaps a register of about 2,000 houses would
require to be kept. If kept at all it must be kept accurately.
Such a work would be a very great clerical labour
and would involve an addition to our office staff. On
the register the following particulars require to be
inserted:-
(a) The total number of rooms in the house.