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Islington—The number of registered houses is 493, of which 45 were added during the year.
The work of inspecting these houses systematically has been found too much for one inspector, and
another inspector has been appointed. The medical officer of health refers to the difficulty in finding
lodgings with which poor people with large families meet.
Stoke Newington—The medical officer of health states that in this district, especially in the
southern division, there is a considerable number of houses let in lodgings under circumstances and
conditions which render it desirable, in the interest of personal and public health, that they should
be registered and inspected« at frequent intervals. One hundred houses in this district are
registered. The limit of rental which formerly excluded houses from the operation of the by-laws
was 2s. 6d. per week for unfurnished, and 4s. per week for furnished accommodation. This low
limit, Dr. Kenwood writes, made the by-laws a dead letter. Application was therefore made to the
Local Government Board for confirmation of an amended by-law which raised these limits to 4s. and 6s.
per week respectively.
Hackney—The number of houses registered during the year was 108. The report of the medical
officer of health contains a table showing the work executed under the supervision of the sanitary
inspectors in registered houses in the district. As many as 662 defects were remedied.
St. Giles—There are 617 registered houses in this district.
St. Martin-in-the-Fields—Houses let in lodgings have been regularly inspected.
Strand—At the end of 1899 there were 112 premises on the register, of which 8 were closed.
Those occupied contained 967 rooms and accommodated 2,015 persons. The owner of one house was
summoned and fined. Inspection in the early morning was made on several occasions by the inspectors
and once by the medical officer of health.
Holborn—There are 335 registered houses in the district, 13 being registered during 1899.
Clerkenwell—The medical officer of health states that " the new by-law as to houses let
in lodgings which changed the minimum permissible cubic space from 350 cubic feet per head to
400 cubic feet for rooms occupied by day and night, was enforced during the year. At the beginning
of the year 1900 there were 169 houses on the register. During 1899 the number of houses placed
for the first time on the register was 40. The summonses which were issued to owners of registered
houses for not complying with the by-laws numbered 17." Dr. Kenwood is of opinion that this work
should be proceeded with " as it is one of the most satisfactory and reliable ways of maintaining a good
standard of sanitation in such houses." With respect to overcrowding he writes: " Reform in a matter
like overcrowding is, and must be, slow and delicate work; the lack of accommodation for the
displaced is of course the chief difficulty."
St. Luke—The by-laws, the medical officer of health states, have been actively enforced during
the year. The by-laws were confirmed in 1898, and in 1899 125 houses were added to the 18
previously on the register. Dr. Yarrow writes: " Experience shows that although registration
considerably increases the work of the sanitary inspectors, it conduces to the better management and
condition of tenement houses, and must tend to improve the comfort and health of the occupiers."
City—The medical officer of health reports that there are 405 houses on the register. These
contain 1,322 tenements, and are occupied by 3,156 lodgers, giving an average of 2-4 persons per
tenement The number of sanitary notices served in respect of these houses was 714.
Shoreditch—Eleven houses were registered during the year, making 125 houses in all on the
register.
Bethnal-green—The medical officer of health discusses the position of Bethnal-green in relation
to the regulation of houses let in lodgings, and he states that " the large majority of the Board still
holds the opinion that the enforcement of the regulations in their entirety would be impossible in
Bethnal-green under present conditions. In conformity with this opinion the Sanitary Committee
has not placed any houses upon the register during the past year, so that at the date of this report our
by-laws are inoperative." Referring to the opinion of the vestry, he writes, " I respect this opinion,
as I know it to be an honest one, but I cannot agrea with it, as 1 contend that a practical attempt
should have been made to work the regulations with a view to ascertain what they are worth." He
adds—
"Unfortunately the vestry Eeem to have concentrated their attention on those clauses of the
tenement house regulations which deal with overcrowding and indecent occupation, to the exclusion
of the others. I have all along held that without increased housing accommodation it is impossible to
enforce these particular clauses. I have formed this opinion, not merely on the ground of the known
inability of the poorer inhabitants to pay rents for the additional rooms they require as their families
increase, but in the belief that, even if no rent -were demanded, the whole of the existing houses in
Bethnal-green could not accommodate the present population of the parish on the basis of the cubic space
prescribed by the by-laws."
Dr. Bate concludes by stating that the by-laws contain many other useful clauses, and that he
is of opinion that if the vestry is not further pressed in the matter, a few houses will be gradually
placed on the register, and that it will then be possible to show such results as will lead to many
other houses being treated in a similar manner.
It is sincerely to be hoped that the sanitary authority of Bethnal-green will not continue to
deprive themselves of the opportunity of improving the sanitary condition of tenement houses in the
district which is afforded by the regulation of houses let in lodgings. The statement of their medical
officer as to the overcrowding of the district, which I have given above, should alone lead them to
feel the necessity of adopting this course. While Bethnal-green stands aloof, it will be observed that
London sanitary authorities generally are beginning to recognise the usefulness of thus controlling the
houses occupied by the poorest class of the community. The influx of people to the metropolis
will probably continue to make insufficient any house accommodation which is provided, and will
produce the worst results in the district or districts neglecting to exercise the best powers they
possess for counteracting this pressure. If the medical officer of health of Bethnal-green is now
able to write of the overcrowding of the district in the manner in which he has done, his authority