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a saving of about £8 a house. A movable shelf to rest on the top of the bath can be provided on which
to stand a wash basin, and the bath taps will be carried up to a sufficient height to enable the basin to
be filled when resting on the shelf.
In order to effect economy in the lay-out of sites the Council contemplates the more extensive
construction of narrow subsidiary roads, provided that the local authoritv will agree to take them over
when completed and to maintain them as public highways. One plan already adopted provides for a
central green surrounded by a roadway 8 feet wide, approached from the adjacent roads bv roadways
20 feet wide, the whole to accommodate about 40 houses. The central greens involve expense in maintenance,
but, if of a size sufficient for games such as tennis or bowls, arrangements might be made for
tenants' associations to undertake the upkeep. At Bellingham partition and party walls are being constructed
in concrete, and external walls are being formed in concrete up to damp course level. On
the Roehampton estate the walls of the houses are being constructed with the outer face in brick and the
interior lining in concrete. These new methods effect economy in time, labour and cost. A number
of minor modifications in construction have been approved bv the Minister of Health.
Well Hill
estate.
The arrangement whereby the Council undertook, on behalf of H.M. Government, the maintenance
and management of the Well Hall estate, Woolwich,* was terminated as on 1st October, 1921.
Rants.
On 27th July, 1920 the Council decided that tne rents charged in respect of its working-class
dwellings, excluding lodging houses, should be increased by the full amounts allowed by the Increase
of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act, 1920. The permitted increases were (i.) an amount
not exceeding 30 per cent, of the net rent after giving one month's notice to the tenants, and (ii.) a
further amount not exceeding 10 per cent, one year after the passing of the Act (2nd July, 1920). The
increase of 30 per cent, was put into force in September, 1920, and the additional 10 per cent, has been
charged since 4th July, 1921. The Council decided on 9th February, 1921, to increase the rents of various
sheds and cupboards at the dwellings by Id. and 2d. a week.
The charges for accommodation at the Council's lodging houses were further revised and fixed
as from 19th Februarv, 1921, as follows :—
(a) Sleeping accommodation.—(i.) Bruce-house.—Ordinary cubicle, Is. Id. a night, or 7s.
a week (number of weekly lettings not to exceed 400); special cubicle, Is. 4d. a night, or 8s. 6d.
a week; special bedroom, Is. 7d. a night, or 10s. 6d. a week, (ii.) Carrington-house. —Ordinary
cubicle, Is. Id. a night, or 7s. a week ; special cubicle, Is. 4d. a night, or 8s. 6d. a week, (iii.)
Parker-street house.—Ordinary cubicle, Is. a night, or 6s. 6d. a week.
(b) Baths and parcel storage.—(i.) Hot bath with use of towel, 2d.; storage of parcels at
Council's risk—small parcels, 2d. a month, parcels exceeding 6 cubic feet, 4d. a month,
provided that any payment for storage beyond one month on parcels already in store shall
remain at the old rate.
(c) Barber's and shoemaker's shops.—(i.) Bruce-house and Carrington-house, 15s. a week,
(ii.) Parker-street-house (barber's shop onlv), 5s. a week.
Allotments.
The annual rent for the allotments provided on estates developed since the war has been fixed
at 2s. a rod including rates. Some land on the White Hart-lane estate, pending its use for building purposes,
has been laid out as allotments, which are let temporarily at Is. a rod a year.
Biths.
On 9th February, 1921, the Council revised the charges for baths on certain estates at which baths
are not provided in the tenements, as follows:—hot bath, 2d.; cold bath, 1 id; Id. being charged for
the use of a towel and Id. for soap.
Applications
for tenancies.
In view ot the very large number (about 23,000) of applications for tenancies in hand the Council,
on 26th July, 1921, in order to save unnecessary correspondence and inquiries, closed the list of applicants
for a time.
Tenants'
deposits.
The Council utilises for the benefit of the tenants the interest on sums deposited bv them on taking
up their tenancies. During 1921, £20 was given to the London Gardens Guild and £5 to the Norbury
Estate Cottage Garden Society for the provision of prizes for the best kept gardens, etc., on the Council's
estates, subject in each case to a balance sheet being submitted at the end of the season showing how
the money had been expended.
Overcrowding.
The annual enumeration of the occupants of the Council s dwellings at the end of March, 1921,
revealed the fact that there were still a number of tenements or cottages occupied by a larger number
of persons than the rules permitted. The maximum allowed is calculated on the basis of two persons for
each habitable room, children under five years of age being disregarded for the purpose of this calculation,
and two children over five and under ten years of age being reckoned as one adult.
The number ot houses and tenements comprised in the enumeration was 10,361, and of these 216
or 2.08 per cent., as compared with 256 or 2'56 per cent, in the preceding year, were found to be overcrowded
on this basis. The overcrowding in 11 cases has since been abated. All but nine of the overcrowded
dwellings consist of two or three rooms and there were only four cases on the cottage estates.
On the Boundary-street estate 62 out of 1,044 tenements, and on the Bourne estate 17 out of 537
tenements, were found to be overcrowded. In the majority of cases the tenants are ready to take larger
tenements as soon as opportunities occur, but very few of them are willing to move far from their present
dwellings, and in view of higher rents and the rarity of vacancies it will be some time before all the cases
can be satisfactorily dealt with.
Publications.
The council has published a fully illustrated account ot housing in London up to 1912,† and also
a detailed account, with seven illustrations, of its present proposals.‡
Workmen's
trains, etc.
1 he Council,s action with regard to workmen s trains at cheap tares was dealt with in the last
Annual Report (vol. I., p. 77). No special action was necessary during 1921.
* See Annual Report of the Council, 1915-19 (vol. III., p. 120).
† Housing of the Working Classes, 1855-1912, No. 1555, price Is.
‡ Housing, No. 2032, price Is.