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scullery: all without any light or ventilation to the external
air. It is unfortunate that the Building Bye-laws do not
permit the Local Authority to insist upon the provision of
adequate accommodation for the storage of food.
Re-inspections made of property where sanitary improvements
and alterations have been carried out, such as paving of
spaces round dwellings, repairing of defective plastering to
walls, cleansing of rooms, etc., have shown that in the
majority of cases such alterations, etc., are appreciated by the
tenants; they constitute a strong factor in inducing them to
keep their premises in a cleanly condition, and a marked
improvement has been maintained in many cases. Nothing is
more disheartening to a housewife than to go into a house
where the plastering to walls is defective, walls and ceilings
dirty, and flooring with holes in it. Under such circumstances
there is no inducement to the occupier to put or keep the house
and its surroundings in a proper state. In the poorer parts of
the district people have very little choice in the matter of
house accommodation, and are very often compelled to enter
into occupation under conditions such as those mentioned
above because they are unable to afford to pay more rent than
that at which many of these houses and tenements are let.
Houses Let in Lodgings.—There are 64 of these houses on
the Register, and 332 visits of inspection were made during
the year. Twelve houses, formerly let in lodgings, were
during 1911 converted from double tenements into single
houses, consequently the bye-laws do not now apply, and they
have been removed from the Register.
In all but a few instances the owners have carried out the
work required under the bye-laws, such as periodical cleansing
of walls and ceilings, etc., readily, but considerable difficulty
has been experienced in dealing with matters for which the
occupiers are responsible. For some reason, in certain houses
most dirty and indolent tenants have obtained possession; I
have heard that they are. principally those who have been
ejected from property in London, and have found Wimbledon
the first district outside where they could obtain accommodation
at anything like the same rents they have hitherto paid.
Whenever the Inspectors call, whether it be morning, afternoon,
or evening, and the dirty condition of the floors, etc., is
pointed out to them, their usual response is that they are
"Just going to clean up or they try in some other way to
justify their own default, complaining of the condition of the
structure of the premises, apparently forgetting that they
themselves are responsible for much of their dilapidated condition.
In some instances the tenants have been ejected by the
owners principally for their gross neglect and dirty habits.
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