View report page

7
such houses in the parishes of Lee and Kidbrooke," and Dr. Young found, in the course of an inquiry
made last year, that the cottages in Eltham were " mostly occupied by single families."
Lewisham.— Regulations were adopted in 1884, and in 1890 the District Board was favourably
impressed by the experience gained in the use of these regulations. New by-laws came into force in
1895 and at the present time there are registered 15 houses in Penge, and 12 houses in Lewisham
(excluding Penge). Proceedings for the enforcement of the by-laws were instituted in 16 cases in 1896
and in five cases during the present year. These proceedings related in every instance to houses
situated in Arpley-road, Penge. The present condition of these Arpley-road houses bears striking
testimony to the value of by-laws.
Limehotise.— Regulations under the Sanitary Act were adopted in 1867, and some 2,000 houses
were placed upon the register. In recent years comparatively little use has been made of the regulations.
By-laws under the Act of 1891 superseded the old regulations in 1893, but few houses have, as yet,
been dealt with under them, and at the present time only 69 houses are on the register. Proceedings
have been instituted and a penalty obtained in two or three cases. It was found, however, in some
instances, that the persons convicted were too poor to pay a fine. This circumstance appears to have
led to the requirements of the by-laws with regard to annual cleansing not being adequately enforced,
as some of the registered houses which I visited were in need of being cleansed and put into proper
repair. On the whole the condition of cleanliness in the regulated houses was fairly satisfactory; there
was admittedly, however, overcrowding of several of the rooms.
The use of the by-laws might with great advantage be considerably extended in this district and
they should be more thoroughly enforced. The overcrowding which appears to be of common occurrence
in some parts of Limehouse could be readily dealt with by the registration and efficient inspection of
houses let in lodgings in which there is reason to suspect that overcrowding exists. A few visits at
unusual hours, with application for penalty in cases in which the law was not complied with, would
effect a great improvement in the conditions under which some of the inhabitants of this district live.
Marylebone.— In this parish regulations were adopted in 1884, and it was found that they
facilitated the work of the sanitary department, but that they were too limited in scope. Fresh regulations
were made in 1890, and large use has been made of them. At the present time 931 houses are on the
register, and from 3,000 to 4,000 inspections of such houses are made in the course of a year. I
inspected several of the houses in streets in the neighbourhood of Lisson-grove, in company with the
Inspector who has charge of the district in which these streets are situated. A few of the houses were
in good condition, others were dirty, and there was need for the execution of works of repair. Considerable
as is the amount of inspection of registered houses carried out in this locality, it would appear
that more supervision is necessary to secure a satisfactory standard of cleanliness and repair in
such houses. There is, moreover, evidence of overcrowding, and until recently a large number of basement
rooms have been separately occupied as dwellings in these streets. This matter is now being
dealt with by the vestry and some diminution in the amount of crowding will no doubt result, inasmuch
as some of the basement rooms are being let in conjunction with rooms above ground, and the number
of separate lettings in the houses is thus necessarily reduced. An attempt is made to deal with overcrowding
when it is admitted to exist, but inspections are not made at unusual hours, nor have any
legal proceedings for the enforcement of the regulation dealing with this matter been recently instituted.
Mile End Old Town.—Some use has been made of regulations under the Sanitary Act of 1866,
which came into force in 1885, and at the present time 180 houses are on the register.
Newington.—Regulations were made in 1890, but were never enforced in this district; by-laws
under the Act of 1891 were confirmed last year. Up to the present time no attempt has been made by
the vestry to enforce these by-laws.
Paddington.—The power to regulate houses let in lodgings has not hitherto been made use of
in this parish. By-laws under the Public Health (London) Act, were confirmed by the Local Government
Board in 1894, and an attempt was made during 1895 to place some of the houses in North
Paddington on the register, but " the work was pushed aside by pressure of other matters." An
assistant inspector has quite recently been appointed to carry out the work of registration, and though
no houses have at the present date (June, 1897) been actually registered, the medical officer of health
hopes that the work will now be carried through in a systematic manner.
Plumstead.—By-laws under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, were confirmed in 1894.
At first very few houses were dealt with, then later, particulars concerning several houses were obtained,
and it was proposed to register some of them. Some of the houses were actually placed on the register,
and had then to be removed from it in consequence of altered conditions as to tenancy which were
established. At the present time there are only three houses in the parish under regulation, and
the by-laws are practically inoperative.
Poplar.—Regulations under the Sanitary Act of 1866 were adopted in 1886, but no use was
made of them. By-laws under the Public Health (London) Act were confirmed in 1895. Under the
second clause of these by-laws, all houses are exempted from their operation where the rent or charge
payable by each lodger is (in the case of unfurnished lodgings) 3s. per week or upwards, and (in the case
of furnished lodgings) 4s. per week or upwards. These limits of rental are so low that it may be
anticipated they will exclude from the operation of the by-laws, most of the houses which might
with advantage be registered. No houses have been dealt with under the by-laws up to the present
time.
Rotherhithe.—Regulations were made under the Act of 1866, but do not appear to have been
put in operation in this parish. By-laws under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, did not come
into force until January, 1896. Only 18 houses have been placed upon the register.
The exemption clause in the Rotherhithe by-laws excludes from the operation of these by-laws
lodging houses " where the landlord resides upon the premises and not more than one lodger is received
in the house." It also excludes houses " where the rent or charge payable by each lodger " is at a