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a smaller sub-division than in two separate floors, but on the west side the
houses are not let either as a whole or in floors, but in single rooms, each
separate room being occupied by a separate family, so that each house on an
average contains four families; but it would not be correct to say that a house
of similar size containing four times the number of families that another contains
would be required to be cleansed, repaired, and redecorated four times
oftener, yet it may be said that the relative frequency of cleansing, repair, and
redecoration must increase progressively with the increase in the number of
families occupying the house; and, furthermore, that the standard of living of
the occupants must become progressively lower. Consequently Little Claendon
Street has attracted to itself the most undesirable element of the population
within a large radius assisted by the centrifugalized force imparted to the
crowded residents of central London by demolitions and changes in the use of
dwelling houses.
Overcrowding is a chronic condition in Little Clarendon Street, and as fast
as the Inspector abates it in one room it occurs in another, especiallv on the
west side. This is due to the fact that there is no such control as exists in
artizans' dwelling, for instance, where there is a resident superintendent, only
one entrance which is under the superintendent's eye, and who controls ail
those who come in and go out, and who sees that minor repairs and cleansing
are properly done, or does them himself where it is his duty to do them.
If Little Clarendon Street could be subjected to the conditions that artizans'
dwellings are subjected to, namely, if only one entrance at which a caretaker
should reside, and if a resident caretaker were placed in charge and made
responsible for the condition of the houses, and for the behaviour of the tenants,
and if the owner or owners started with them in good structural and decorative
repair and cleanliness, I see no reason why Little Clarendon Street should not
be made as model a place to reside in as any of the fair class of artizans'
dwellings in the neighbourhood.
A copy of this report was forwarded for the information of the Local
Government Board.