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*Exact figures not available. In this period 476 new
houses were brought into rating as well as 22 flats and 9 houses
with shops.
It has been commented upon that the Council has not scheduled
any area as a Clearance Area or an Improvement Area. The
explanation is not far to seek, and is found in the manner in which
the slums have grown up. The nineteenth century was a period
during which industry expanded at an unprecedented rate. No
similar example can be found in history. England was the first
country to become industrialised, and the lack of experience and
knowledge was responsible for mistakes of fundamental importance.
Everybody was unprepared. In the industrial areas houses were
built without any regulation or supervision. In most places there
were no bve-laws of any kind in force. Transport facilities were
poor and families were herded together so as to be within easy
distance of their work. In many industrial centres, the march
and progress of an industry can be read in its housing conditions,
especially in its courts and alleys. I know of towns where the
history of an industry explains the origin of these courts. A number
of houses would be built in what developed into a road. These
houses would have gardens in their rear and very rarely in their
front. A period of prosperity in the neighbouring works would
occur, and a great demand would arise for houses in proximity
to the works. Lean-to structures would be put at the back of
the existing houses, these would persist as back-to-back houses.
Tnis was only one method by which these unsatisfactory housing
conditions arose.
I am mentioning these facts to show how Acton escaped the
many deleterious conditions which have left slums as their legacies.
Although Acton, has developed recently on industrial lines,
it escaped almost entirely the direct results of the nineteenth century
revolution in industry, as the following figures will show:—