View report page

31
There is a good deal of undeveloped land in the district, and it is possible
that in a few years time the population may be appreciably greater than at
the present.
During the last few years there has been a marked reduction in the proportion
of elementary school children to the rest of the population: in 1921
the percentage was 18'2, whilst for 1925 the percentage had fallen to 14 6.
Two factors are responsible for this—the declining birth rate and increased
longevity.
The main cause of overcrowding is undoubtedly the dearth of suitable
houses. In some cases a small family has taken rooms six or seven years
ago, and find that now, with a larger family, it is impossible to obtain proper
accommodation; in other cases, relatives have married or come up from the
country and have been accommodated.
The overcrowding has led to squabbles and bickering, and must have a
bad effect not only on the health, but on the morale of the inhabitants. The
services of the Sanitary Inspectors are not infrequently invoked when the
climax is reached by the tenant locking up sanitary accommodation or the
water supply, or the lodgers needlessly making themselves offensive as regards
the disposal of slop waters, etc.
The worst cases of overcrowding have been abated without resorting to
statutory interference; milder cases have been left alone for the simplest of
reasons—there is no remedy.
The problem of housing is a very serious one—it is a national and not a
local one.
Fitness of Houses.
Taken as a whole, the general standard of housing in the area is fair.
There are a few blocks of buildings which, owing to structural defects, can
never be made wholly sanitary, but, in the majority of cases, the defects are
of a temporary nature—defective window-frames and sashes, leaking roofs and
gutters, burnt-out stoves, dirty and dilapidated walls and ceiling, etc.
There are two causes of the above: in the first place, very little repair
was done to property during the war, and hence dilapidations have accumulated
; secondly, many rooms are now put to uses not originally intended.