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29
HOUSING.
Erection of New Houses.
The number of water certificates for new houses issued during
the year in respect of properties built by private enterprise was
41 and by the London County Council 17.
Inspection of Houses.
The Housing (Consolidated) Regulations, 1925, provide for
the periodical inspection of houses.
During the year 970 houses were inspected and the inspections
recorded, so that the conditions found at the time of the
initial and subsequent inspection of a particular house in a street
can easily be ascertained. The re-inspections of these premises
numbered 3,661.
Insanitary Areas.
The question is often asked, why do persons desire to continue
to live in slum areas, and the answer usually given is that
the vast majority of slum dwellers have no ambition to live anywhere
else. Such has not been my experience, and I am satisfied
that in the majority of cases it is due either to poverty or a desire
to live within easy reach of their place of work.
The people generally found to be living in these areas are
those of the unskilled labour class, street hawkers, and the odd
job man, whose economic circumstances prevent their seeking
improved housing conditions elsewhere.
One of the most distressing features of slum life is the evil
effect of such environment on the children living in these areas,
not only from the public health point of view, but also from the
mental and moral aspects.
There is little doubt that children born in slums and brought
up in slums tend to develop a slum mind. If it were possible to
imagine a slum with an eliminated or restricted child population
the problem would not be of so great importance. But unfortunately
children usually abound in the slums, with the result that
the associated evils of bad housing and overcrowded conditions
cannot fail to seriously interfere with the healthy development of
these children.
In recent years schemes involving the demolition of insanitary
and worn out properties in the Wvndham Road and Blue
Anchor Lane areas have been put in operation, and the erection
of working-class dwellings on the sites is proceeding. At the
end of 1928, 42 flats had been erected and occupied in the Wyndham
Road area, an additional 17 flats were completed and
occupied during 1929, and a further 56 dwellings are now in the
course of erection.