View report page

64
On the relative advantages of public versus private building, Mr. Nettlefold,
the well-known Birmingham housing reformer, in his book on " Practical
Housing," has some very weighty remarks:—" The housing question is very
largely a personal question, and cannot be successfully dealt with in the wholesale
fashion, which is the only way possible when Local Authorities insist
upon themselves building the actual houses required, instead of being content,
and wisely content, to encourage others to build houses on proper lines, keeping
themselves free to supervise and control what is done, which is, after all, their
first and most important function."
As a local authority aspires to be a model employer, so if a Council
ventures into the building arena, it should build homes of such a character that
they would be models for the private builder. I have recently seen municipal
plans for dwelling houses in a neighbouring district that would make any
"Jeremiah " blush with emulation.
In an address which I delivered to the Institute of Sanitary Engineers on
March 17th, I gave the following conditions showing my ideal workman's
house, and these do not include anything usually required by the by-laws of the
local authority.
1. No plot of land less than 20 feet frontage and 50 feet deep from the
back of the house.
2. Every chimney in an inner wall.
3. A larder with openable window—on the north side if possible.
4. Each house with a backway, or sideway; so that coals may be taken
in and refuse taken out by some way other than the front door.
5. A coal house and moveable dustbin in the backyard.
6. No quarters for animals within ten feet of the house.
7. Every room properly ventilated.
8. Not less than three bedrooms—the abolition of the "best parlour."
g. A bath in the scullery.
10. A branch from the water main over the scullery sink.
Overcrowding. During the investigations made by myself and staff
into the origin of infectious diseases, many cases of overcrowding came to light.
It is usually caused by a man with a family of his own, quite numerous
enough to fill the rooms intended for bedrooms, receiving a second family to
assist in paying the rent. In most cases, good advice patiently given, and in