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73
an alley off Prospect Row. On my representation of their insanitary
condition, the Committee resolved to take proceedings to close
them. But meanwhile, the owner undertook to do all and more
than all that was required, and he satisfactorily carried out his
undertaking. The height of the lower rooms was increased to
7 ft. 4 in. by lowering the floors. The floors were ventilated. Taps
and sinks were put in the kitchens of four houses; the kitchen of
one of the middle houses was turned into a wash-house for the
other five, and a scullery for the adjoining house, and the upstairs
room added to the adjoining house. Additional windows
up and down stairs were made at the back, increasing the light
and giving through ventilation.
Charlton Vale.
The low-lying houses situated in Charlton Vale which were
repeatedly flooded from heading back of sewage, have all been
closed and demolished at the instance of the freeholder.
30A. Unoccupied Houses and New Houses.—Owing to reduction
of work in the Royal Arsenal and Trade depression, there
have been in recent years a large number of empty houses or
unoccupied rooms, as compared with previous years. For the year
ending 30th September, 1906, the proportion of rates unpaid re
empties was 2·3 per cent. of total houses, and the estimated
number of uninhabited houses was 750 or 3·8 per cent.
On the other hand, 560 new houses were passed for water
certificates in 1905 and 418 in 1904, and observation shows that
new houses are usually occupied as soon as they are completed.
This apparent anomaly is partly explained by the fact that the
great majority of the new houses are four or five-roomed dwellings,
or consist of two flats of separately contained three or four-roomed
tenements, whereas four-fifths of the empties in 1904 were rented
over 10s. a week, a rent beyond the means of the majority of the
population. The general demand is for a small separate house.