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Holborn.— Regulations came into force in this district in 1885, and a few houses were placed on
the register. These regulations are still in force, as they have not been replaced by by-laws made under
the Public Health (London) Act, 1891. At the present time there are only 35 houses on the register.
Dr. Young, in his report on the sanitary condition of Holborn, states that "a large proportion of the
inhabited houses in this district are occupied by members of more than one family, the tenements
consisting for the most part of one or two rooms, and there is little doubt that a much greater number
than at present should be placed on the register." The medical officer of health of Holborn, in dealing
with the recommendation that the Board "should proceed more largely to reg date houses let in
lodgings," comments upon the facts that "very few of the houses let in lodgings are at present
registered," and that the existing regulations in several respects " are below the standard of the by-laws
now generally adopted."
Islington.— Regulations under the Act of 1866, came into force in 1885, and by-laws under the
Act of 1891 were confirmed in 1894. A special inspector was appointed to carry out the duty of dealing
with registered houses. In so far as experience has been gained it is wholly favourable to the use of
by-laws. At the present time about 400 houses are on the register, but there can be no doubt that
there are many more houses in this large parish to which the use of the by-laws might with advantage
be extended.
Dr. Harris, the medical officer of health of Islington, has kindly given me a table of
particulars concerning a street in his parish which has been recently dealt with under the by-laws. The
improvement effected in this street has been considerable. The houses contain from six to ten rooms
each. Before registration the 62 houses were occupied by 850 persons, the number of occupants has
since been reduced to 767. The greatest number of persons in a house under the old conditions was
28, under the new conditions the greatest number is 22. Under the old conditions 10 houses contained
more than 20 inhabitants, under the new conditions, only two contain more than 20 inhabitants. In all
the houses, rooms and staircases have been cleansed and whitened, and sanitary defects which were
noted have been remedied. In cases in which more than 12 persons live in a house let in lodgings the
provision of an additional water-closet, as required by the by-law 26 made by the Council under section
39 (1) of the Public Health (London) Act, is insisted upon.
I inspected a number of registered houses in Islington and found them well supervised. An
inspection of a group of tenements in which there was reason to suppose overcrowding existed had been
recently made by two of the vestry's inspectors. The time of inspection chosen was the early morning
between 6 and 7 a.m. In three instances the rooms were found to be occupied by other persons, in
addition to the ordinary occupants for whom the cubic space was sufficient. In one instance a small
room, which should have been limited to the use of a man and his three children, was found to also
contain a woman and her two grown-up daughters. The occasional use of the power to inspect after
6 a.m., would probably almost entirely obviate the need for making night inspections, at any rate the
experience gained in Islington seems to suggest this.
Kensington.—In this parish regulations were made under section 35 of the Sanitary Act of 1866,
and were confirmed in 1886. In the annual report of the medical officer of health of Kensington for
1889, Dr. Dudfield writes—"Under these regulations, about 1,800 houses have been placed upon the
register, and the process of registration is still in progress." Dr. Dudfield's opinion concerning the
value of regulations is given in his annual report for 1895, in which he writes—"I have only to add
that registration, whilst facilitating the work of my department, has given rise to none of the evils
feared by the owners and occupiers proposed to be registered ; that the existing by-laws made in 1886 have
worked with smoothness, and practically without objection by any of the parties affected by them ;
and that the extension of the operation of the by-laws to all tenemented and other houses occupied in
lodgings by the poorer classes would be an unmixed benefit from the public health point of view, by
enabling the sanitary authority to maintain the conditions necessary to secure healthy houses for those
who, in regard to such matters, have little power to help themselves."
The progress which had been made with the registration of houses in Kensington in the first
five years following the confirmation of the regulations was not, however, maintained. In the annual
report of the medical officer of health for 1892, the number on the register is still given as 1,800,
that is the same number as that given in 1889; it is moreover stated that "many others wait attention."
In the annual report for 1895 it is stated that " nothing has been done towards the registration
of houses in fresh streets since the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, came into operation, it appearing
to the Sanitary Committee desirable that new registrations should be carried out subject to by-laws
made to conform with the provisions of that Act, as recommended by the Local Government Board in
1892."
The framing of new by-laws has been under the consideration of the vestry, and draft by-laws
have been submitted to the Local Government Board.
The number of houses on the register at the present time is 1,500, i.e., practically the same
number as in 1889, allowing for certain houses which have been demolished or taken off the register.
Thus, in spite of the experience gained as to the value of regulations in this parish no extension of
their use to the many other houses waiting attention has been made during the past seven years.
The main difficulty in connection with enforcing the regulations in Kensington has been the
inadequacy of the staff of sanitary inspectors to carry out the duty. After the passing of the
Public Health (London) Act, 1891, it was of course necessary to increase the staff, and in 1893
the inspecting staff comprised seven inspectors and two assistant inspectors, as well as two
female inspectors of workshops. During 1893 considerable public attention was directed to certain
streets iu Notting-dale, constituting an area which has since been much under discussion. These
streets consist mainly of registered houses, and include also a certain number of common lodginghouses.
In his annual report for 1892, Dr. Dudfield writes concerning this area—"With few
exceptions the houses in the several streets named have been registered under your vestry's