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Lower Grotto-place, Goldsmith's-place, and Lant-place; (2) area bounded by (a) Pocock-street,
(6) King's Bench-walk, (c) Wellington-place, and (d) the new buildings of the London County Council
in Green-street, and by the Pocock-street Board school."
The medical officer of health of Lambeth states that of 40 houses represented by him under the
Housing of the Working Classes Act, 27 in one area, comprising Fountain, Francis, and Paved courts,
still remain empty. He suggests that the site should be acquired for the purpose of providing an open
space or playground for children.
The medical officer of health of Camber well reports on a memorial received by the vestry, and
directing attention to an area " lying between Wyndham-road and Avenue-road, and between Camberwell-road
and Pitman-street, and including the following streets—Sultan-street, Hollington-street,
Crown-street, Gange-street, Beckett-street, and Toulon-street." In 1896 he recommended (1) that as
many as possible of the houses should be placed under regulations for houses let in lodgings, and the
by-laws rigidly carried out; (2) that a routine inspection of all the houses be made twice a year, so
that there may be no long continuance of defects. In his annual report for the year 1897 he writes—
" While admitting the fact that in this area there are isolated blocks of houses which it would be a
great advantage to remove, I am strongly of opinion that the district as a whole does not come within
the meaning of an insanitary area, and I do not feel myself to be in a position to give the certificate
required under the Housing of the Working Classes Act." He states that, acting on an instruction
of the sanitary committee in May, he again reported on the area, and he indicated certain blocks of
houses with which it would be an advantage to deal under Part II. of the Housing of the Working
Classes Act, viz., Mayhew's-buildings, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38 ; Beckett-street, the whole of Gurneyterrace,
Laurel-terrace, and Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, Sultan-street. The committee, he reports,
decided not to proceed with a scheme, but that notices should be served under the Public Health Act.
The Regulation of Houses Let in Lodgings.
At the end of the year 1896 I was directed by the Council to make a further report at
Midsummer, 1897, as to the extent to which by-laws or regulations dealing with houses let in lodgings
were enforced in the several sanitary districts of London with a view to the Council making a
representation to the Local Government Board under section 101 of the Public Health (London) Act,
1891, in the case of any sanitary authority which by that time was not carrying out the provisions of
section 94 of the Act. I accordingly obtained from London medical officers of health information
as to the number of houses then on the register in the several districts, and Dr. Hamer made inquiry in all
districts except the City as to the progress made by each sanitary authority in fulfilment of the
statutory obligation of making and enforcing by-laws for houses let in lodgings. In September I
presented to the Committee a report on this subject, to which is appended Dr. Hamer's report. (See
Appendix II.)
The Council adopted the following report of the Public Health Committee, but authorised the
committee to delay forwarding to the Local Government Board the complaint as to Bethnal-green so
as to give the vestry an opportunity of further considering the matter.
By section 94 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, every sanitary authority is required to make
and enforce such by-laws as are requisite for the following matters ; that is to say—
" (a) For fixing the number of persons who may occupy a house or part of a house which is let
" in lodgings or occupied by members of more than one family, and for the separation of the sexes
" in a house so let or occupied;
" (b) For the registration of houses so let or occupied ;
" (c) For the inspection of such houses ;
" (d) For enforcing drainage for such houses, and for promoting cleanliness and ventilation in
" such houses;
" (e) For the cleansing and lime-washing at stated times of the premises ;
" (f) For the taking of precautions in case of any infectious disease."
A report by the medical officer which we submitted to the Council on 28th July, 1896, showed that,
though by-laws under the above section or regulations under the Sanitary Act of 1866 with respect to
houses let in lodgings had been made in every London district, in only a limited number of districts was
any considerable effort made to enforce them. The medical officer pointed out that the inquiries showed
that in every district where by-laws or regulations had been given a fair trial, the opinions of those best
qualified to judge were strongly in favour of that method of dealing with such houses. Any difficulty
which had been anticipated in thus regulating the houses had always disappeared when the work was
seriously undertaken and a sufficient staff provided for the purpose. The very fact that a house had
been registered, and was subjected to inspection, had been found to be productive of good, and there was
no doubt that still better results would have been attained if larger use had been made of the power
conferred by by-laws to proceed directly for penalty instead of adopting the method of serving notices.
This would be particularly the case when the condition to be dealt with was that of overcrowding.
Copies of the report were sent to each sanitary authority with a request for their observations upon
it, and as from the replies received it appeared that in many districts the by-laws or regulations remained
practically a dead letter, the Council on 1st December, 1896, on our recommendation, passed the following
resolutions—
" (1) That the medical officer be instructed to make a further inquiry at Midsummer, 1897, as to
" the extent to which by-laws or regulations dealing with houses let in lodgings are enforced in the
" several sanitary districts of London with a view to the Council making a representation to the Local
" Government Board under section 101 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, in the case of any
" sanitary authority which is not by that time carrying out the provisions of section 94 of the Act.
" (2) That a copy of this report and of the Council's resolution thereon be sent to each of the
" London sanitary authorities."
A further inquiry has accordingly been made and a further report has been prepared by the medical
officer, a printed copy of which has been sent to each member of the Council. The report shows that in
31 districts the number of houses on the register ranges between 6 (in Plumstead) and 1,500 (in Kensington).
In Bethnal-green, Lambeth, Lee, Paddington, Newington. Poplar, St. Saviour, Southwark,
Stoke Newington, Battersea, and Chelsea, no houses were regulated at the time of the inquiry. In
Lambeth the by-laws have only recently been confirmed. In Paddington an inspector has lately been
appointed to deal with the subject. In some of the parishes of Lee, houses are mostly occupied by one