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received asking the Council to acquire the houses under Part III. of the Housing of the Working Class
Act. The Housing of the Working Classes Committee reported that the memorial did not advance any
new facts or arguments which caused the Committee to alter their opinion expressed in 1897, that the
application of Part III. of the Act was not the proper remedy. Under the amending Act of this year
the Borough Council can proceed to acquire the property if they so desire. In connection with this
subject Dr. Dudfield refers to the insufficiency of the staff of sanitary inspectors, and to the need of
more frequent inspection of the houses in this area.
St. Pancras—Dr. Sykes reports that the vestry resolved that steps be taken to ascertain whether
certain houses in Chapel-street could be acquired by agreement with a view to giving effect to the
decision of the Local Government Board as to the Eastnor-place and Chapel-grove schemes.
St. Oiles—Dr. Lovett reports that since the Housing of the Working Classes Act was passed,
154 premises in this district have been dealt with under the Act.
St. James, Westminster—Dr. Edmunds again discusses the suitability of the site of the brewery
and workhouse in the north-eastern part of the district for the erection of artizans' dwellings and to
the need for the opening up of this neighbourhood by new streets. He states that rebuilding
continues to go on upon the old streets, rendering any future improvement more costly.
Strand—Dr. Allan states that 111 dwelling houses in this district will be removed for the
purposes of the Holborn to Strand street and that in these are accommodated 534 families, comprising
1,726 persons occupying 833 rooms. Of these 754 occupy tenements of one room, 768 tenements of
two rooms, 74 tenements of three rooms, and 130 persons living in 23 houses occupy more than
three rooms. During the last six years 390 deaths have occurred among the residents, giving a mean
death rate of 32 2 per 1,000; 21-5 per cent, of these deaths were due to tubercular disease and 15 per
cent, to zymotic disease. In the respective streets the death rate varied from 21 to 41 per 1,000.
In the above calculations the receiving ward in Bear-yard and four common lodging-houses have been
excluded. In connection with the Clare-market scheme " at the end of 1899, 99 houses were entirely
closed and many others were only partially inhabited; probably about 1,000 persons have been
displaced during the year. The death rate of the area to the middle of 1899 is 36 per 1,000, which
is also the average of the preceding eight years. Of the 84 deaths, 18 were due to consumption."
Holborn—Dr. Bond includes in his report a detailed account of the Union-buildings area which
the Council decided to improve under the Housing of the Working Classes Act.
St. Luke—Dr. Yarrow states that Lines-buildings, Eichard's-place, Old-street, which were closed
under Part II. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, had only been erected about ten years.
They consist of two separate blocks situated at the end of a cul-de-sac, and about six feet apart, and
connected on the first floor by a bridge. They have no back windows or means of through ventilation,
and by reason of the height and close proximity of the two buildings the lower rooms are quite dark.
The account given of these buildings is useful in showing what could be erected under the old building
law.
Shoreditch—Dr. Bryett gives account of 27 houses closed during the year; the majority were
improved and subsequently re-occupied.
Whitechapel—The report of Dr. Loane contains a statement prepared at the request of the
Parliamentary Committee of the London County Council showing the particulars of persons displaced
by works of railway and other undertakings during the past twenty years, and particulars of new
property erected and its estimated population. Dr. Loane summarizes this part of his report by saying
" On the whole it is clear that more accommodation now exists for the working classes in the Whitechapel
district than was the case before the changes took place."
Bethnal-green—In discussing the buildings which have been erected upon the Boundary-street
estate, Dr. Bate takes exception to some of the tenements on the grounds that they are not " self-contained,"
and he expresses the opinion that "it is not decent that one closet should be used in common by
several families; and the same observation applies to washing conveniences. The law insists that
factories and workshops shall be provided with separate sanitary conveniences for both sexes, but
unfortunately does not extend this requirement to the dwellings. Is is not unreasonable to demand
that the workman's home shall be at least as private as his place of business."
Mile-end Old-town—Dr. Rygate states, that inasmuch as the application of the provisions of
the Public Health Act is preventing houses from becoming uninhabitable, fewer applications are each
year made for the closing of houses under the Housing of the Working Classes Act, and he had
therefore to report on only twelve houses during the year. Property has become more valuable, the
rents have been enormously increased, houses being repaired and renovated.
St. George-the-Martyr—Dr. Waldo reports that from 1892 to 1898, closing orders under
Part II. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, have been obtained for 322 dwellings occupied
by 1,517 persons.
Lambeth—Dr. Priestley expresses the opinion that the employment of the provisions of Part I.
of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, is unnecessary in the district. The number of houses
dealt with under Part II. during the year was 42.
Wandsworth—A block of houses in Brewhouse-lane, Putney, was represented under Part II.
of the Housing of the Working Classes Act by Dr. Orr.
Greenwich—Dr. Hartt writes that, during the past year a great number of cases of overcrowding
came to his knowledge, principally from want of house accommodation. The opening of
the Blackwall-tunnel has led to an influx of persons of the artizan and labouring classes without a
corresponding increase in the number of houses. He states there are open spaces which might be
built upon.
Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899.
This Act provides that a local authority for any area may advance money to a resident in any
house within the area for the purpose of enabling him to acquire the ownership of that house. The