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rate of 5s. per week or upwards in the case of unfurnished, and 7s. per week or upwards in the case of
furnished lodgings. These limits of rental are fixed so low that tenements are excluded from the
operation of the by-laws which might with advantage be made subject to them. There can be no
doubt whatever that there are many houses in the parish which could be and need to be registered
and regulated, and much good would result if the by-laws were applied to them.
St. George, Hanover-square.—In this parish regulations were adopted in 1885 and new by-laws
were confirmed in 1894. A few houses have been placed upon the register, but the cubic contents
of rooms and particulars as to the persons occupying the houses have not been entered in accordance
with the practice which has generally obtained in other districts. The houses on the register are
houses to the sanitary condition of which attention has at one time or another been directed, but more
systematic inspection of these houses appears to be required, and the powers of regulating them
which by-laws afford have not been taken full advantage of. I visited a few registered houses in the
"out-ward" at the southern end of the parish, and found them, almost without exception, more or less in
need of cleansing and repair; moreover, in some instances underground rooms were separately occupied in
them in contravention of section 96 of the Public Health (London) Act. This "out-ward," which is
practically allotted to one inspector who has upwards of 30,000 inhabitants in his district, appears
to consist mainly of houses occupied by members of more than one family. The vestry has hitherto,
however, only registered houses in which the person who receives the rents is non-resident, and only
95 houses in all have been registered up to the present time.
St. George-in-the-East.— Regulations were made under the Sanitary Act in 1889, but little
use was made of them. In 1895 new by-laws under the Public Health (London) Act were made.
Concerning them the medical officer of health writes in his annual report for 1895, " In several
particulars they are a dis-improvement upon our old by-laws made under the Sanitary Act, 1866,
sec. 35, now repealed, more especially in the question of rent, as by the new by-laws a lodginghouse
is exempted from registration when the rent payable by each lodger, and exclusive of any
charge for the use by such lodger of any furniture, is at the rate of 5s. per week or upwards. This
will consequently have the effect of removing from the register several of the houses already registered
under the Sanitary Act which should continue to be registered." Prom the annual report of the
medical officer of health for 1896 it appears that of 28 houses which were registered under the old Act
only 17 "would allow of re-registration by reason of the rents." Only 17 houses are on the register
therefore at the present time, and no proceedings under the by-laws have been instituted.
There is reason, from the census report, for supposing that a considerable amount of overcrowding
exists in this district, and for the exercise of adequate control with regard to this matter
it is specially necessary that the by-laws should be enforced. The adequate discharge of the duty
would probably necessitate an increase being made in the number of sanitary inspectors.
St. George-the-Martyr, Southwark.—Regulations under the Act of 1866 were adopted in 1867, no
large use was however made of them. By-laws under the Act of 1891 were confirmed in 1894 and
were found valuable, but it was seen that no considerable amount of attention could be given to the
enforcement of the new by-laws without increased inspectorial assistance. The vestry decided therefore
to appoint an inspector whose time should be entirely devoted to this work, and it was thought
desirable that this duty should devolve upon a woman. The regulation of houses let in lodgings has
thus been seriously taken in hand and a great deal of improvement has been effected since the new
inspector was appointed. At the present time there are 336 houses on the register, and a large amount
of cleansing and of work of repair has been executed in them.
As an instance of the utility of by-laws it was interesting to note the following circumstance in
respect to a particular group of houses which had been recently, at the instance of the vestry, placed
in a habitable condition. Some of the houses were registered, others were occupied by members of
one family only, and therefore could not be registered. All the houses were under inspection by
the sanitary authority, but the work of cleansing rooms and staircases had only been effected in the
registered houses.
The amount of overcrowding in this district must be very large. In a considerable proportion
of the tenements which I visited the limits imposed by the by-laws were admittedly exceeded.
During the past eight months 48 notices for the abatement of overcrowding have been served,
and in two instances proceedings for overcrowding have been instituted, and penalties amounting in
one of these cases to £1 2s. and in the other to £5 9s. 6d. were inflicted by the magistrate. The
present condition as regards overcrowding of the registered houses urgently calls for continued
effort in the direction of securing compliance with the minimum requirements as to cubic space
which the by-laws prescribe.
St. Giles.—Regulations were confirmed in 1867 ; no large use was, however, made of them. In
1885 fresh regulations were made and these remain in force, and have been and continue to be extensively
employed. At the present time there are 610 houses on the register. Dr. Lovett is greatly
impressed with the value of these regulations. I visited a number of registered houses in this district,
and in each house visited the general state of maintenance was good, and the condition as to cleanliness
was under careful supervision. There was a notable absence of sanitary defects. In a few instances,
however, overcrowding was either admitted to exist or there was reason to suspect its existence, and
large as the use of the powers conferred by the regulations has been in St. Giles, it appears that there
is still need for the enforcement of the requirements as to provision of cubic space. As an instance of
the operation of the regulations in St. Giles it may be mentioned that two registered owners were
summoned on July 7th, 1897, for failure to abate breach of regulations. Both owners were convicted
and fined 40s. and 2s. costs, and £1 per day for every day the breach of regulations existed from the
date of the notice served by the authority to the date of final abatement. The tines and costs
amounted to £63 2s. and £56 2s. respectively.
St. James, Westminster.—Regulations under the Act of 1866 were adopted in 1885, but no
large use was made of them. In 1895 new by-laws came into force, and an inspection was made of