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1930
15
There is another group of three houses in East Acton, two
of which canont be made reasonably fit for human occupation.
The above houses will be represented as unfit for human
occupation shortly, and they represent the worst houses from a
structural point of view in the district.
It may be assumed that structural defects are not an important
factor in our housing problem, but it would be entirely
incorrect to assume that we have no housing difficulties. The
character of these difficulties is constantly changing, and it is
different now from what it was a few decade.s ago. A few decades
ago, the housing problem was a much simpler one than it is today.
Thirty years ago Acton was a self-contained community, isolated
to some extent from surrounding districts, and the only important
industry was the laundry industry. The northern part of the
district, that is as much as was built over, was largely a dormitory
of London ; most of those living in the northern part of the
district worked in London.
One of the chief problems in those days was a scarcity of
suitable houses, but whereas then it would have been possible to
meet the needs by the erection of a reasonable number of houses,
the conditions have now changed. There was plenty of unbuilt
land within easy access of the chief industry of the district.
These conditions have entirely changed. Geographically we
have become a part of London, and also of the neighbouring
authorities. There is no visible sign of demarcation betwe.en the
district and the neighbouring areas. If it were not for the
boundary marks, and the signs upon the streets, it would be impossible
for a stranger to know in which borough he was. All
the intervening spaces which formerly separated the western
suburbs from London and from each other have been built over.
In addition Acton has become an industrialised area. Many
industries have moved into the district; some of them are new
industries, others have migrated from the provinces and from
other parts of London. At the last Census it was ascertained
that then more people came into the district to work by day than
went out to seek their living in other places.
The industrialisation of the district has continued since the
Census, and other new industries have been started and factories
have been erected. In many, if not in most, instances, the. old
employees have been retained. This is true at any rate of those
factories which have been moved from a part of London. Not
in every case do the employees wi.sh to change their residence.
The owner of one of the factories in North Acton told me about
the negotiations he had had for other sites. One site was situated
in surroundings which were almost rural. There was a cottage
on the site, and before acquiring the site he made enquiries of a
few of his oldest employees whether they would be willing to
live in the cottage. He did not wish them to act as caretakers of