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Housing of the Working Classes.
235
CHAPTER XXXVI.
HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
The powers of the Council with respect to the housing of the working-classes are derived from
the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1909, and questions relating thereto are considered
by the Housing of the Working Classes Committee.
Part I. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, as amended by the Acts of 1903 and
1909, places upon the Council the duty of preparing and carrying into effect (after confirmation by
the Local Government Board) schemes for the re-arrangement and reconstruction of the streets and
houses within insanitary areas which are of such size as to be of general importance to the whole
County of London. Any scheme for dealing with such an area must provide for the demolition of
the old houses, and the re-arrangement, so far as is necessary for purposes of health, of the streets and
alleys comprised therein, and must also provide for the accommodation of at least half the number
of persons of the working classes displaced, in suitable dwellings, which, unless there are any special
reasons to the contrary, must be situated either on the particular area of displacement or within
its immediate vicinity.
Part II. of the Act empowers the Council and the metropolitan borough councils, either jointly
or separately, to undertake schemes for the re-arrangement and reconstruction of insanitary areas
which are too small to be of general importance to the whole County. In any such schemes it is not
essential that new accommodation for the persons displaced should be provided, but the Local
Government Board may order such provision to be made as may appear to be required by the circumstances.
Provision is also made in this part of the Act for the removal of buildings which obstruct
the access of light and air to other houses. The Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, empowers
the metropolitan borough councils to order the closing and demolition of individual insanitary
houses, a right of appeal to the Local Government Board being reserved to the owner of the property.
The Council has power to take action in default of a borough council, both as regards obstructive
buildings and closing and demolition orders.
Part III. of the Act of 1890, as extended by the Acts of 1900 and 1909, empowers the Council to
acquire land, either within or without the County, and to provide thereon accommodation for persons
of the working classes, apart altogether from any displacements that may have taken place.
The Act of 1903 provides that where dwellings occupied by 30 or more persons of the working
classes are acquired under statutory powers other than the Housing Acts, e.g., in connection with the
carrying out of public improvements, the dwellings shall not be entered on until the Local Government
Board has approved a scheme for rehousing the persons to be displaced, or has decided that
such scheme is unnecessary.
As stated above the metropolitan borough councils are the authorities in London for the
administration of the provisions of Part II. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, and the
Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, relating to closing and demolition orders and the removal
of obstructive buildings, the Council only having the power of acting in default, in which case it must
recover the expenditure incurred from the defaulting authority.
The vigorous enforcement of these provisions would, in the Council's opinion, do much to
ameliorate the evils existing in many unhealthy areas and groups of insanitary houses, which are,
unfortunately, far too numerous to permit, on account of the excessive cost, of their being dealt with
in a complete and comprehensive manner by means of improvement or reconstruction schemes.
It was thought that in some cases borough councils might consider that extensive operations
under Part II. of the Act of 1890 might involve expenditure which could not fairly be imposed upon
the borough rate, and that the expenditure would in such instances, especially where the assessable
value of the borough was not high, be more equitably borne by the county rate, with perhaps a contribution
from the borough rate. This cannot be done under the present law, and, consequently, work
under Part II. of the Act, which ought to be taken in hand, is probably sometimes left undone or
delayed. In order to surmount this difficulty, therefore, it was decided to make application to Parliament
for powers to enable the Council, by agreement with any metropolitan borough council, at the
request of such council, to exercise on any occasion the powers of the borough council with regard to
closing and demolition orders and the removal of obstructive buildings and to defray the whole or a
part of any expenditure incurred in the exercise of such powers.
The proposed legislation is intended to supplement, and not in any way to detract from, the
present powers of the metropolitan borough councils, and action under the new powers, if obtained,
can only be initiated at the request of, and must be the subject of future agreement with, the borough
councils concerned.
The Council had under consideration during the year the question of the choice of sites and
the character of the houses which have to be demolished for the purposes of new schools. It is found
in practice, when acquiring a site for a new school, that it is often much cheaper to take good residential
property with large gardens than a slum area upon which the buildings are thickly crowded. The
Council, as the education authority, feels bound to acquire the site involving the minimum of expenditure,
and the result is that often well-built and respectably occupied houses are destroyed leaving
insanitary property in the neighbourhood. It is obvious that the reverse policy should prevail if
this can be done without sacrifice of suitability, but the Council felt that if the selection of a slum area
for a school site is made in the interests of public health and housing, the additional cost should not
23610 HH2
Powers and
duties of the
Council.
Legislation.
Closing
orders, &c.
School sites
on insanitary
areas.