Letters to the Editor
HOUSING AND THE FLOODS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
sift,—The leading article in the Spectator of January 14th, and the letter from Mr. Robert Street, are welcome additions to the outspoken demands made during the past few months that the housing conditions in Westminster should be remedied without delay. The recent floods have informed the public, as nothing else could have done, of the disgraceful conditions under which many workers in Westminster were living, and it is clear that many of the houses which were flooded cannot be made fit for habitation.
It is not, however, generally known that before the storm of January 6th the tenants of many of these houses had received six months' notice to quit, and that these notices were unquestionably connected with improvements consequent on the rebuilding of Lambeth Bridge. It is idle to suppose that the City Council was unaware of the vast dishousing which was to be undertaken in the near future or that they had any scheme which would efficiently have rehoused those whom it was proposed to dispossess.
The responsibility for this state of things, however, does not lie solely upon the City Council. It must be shared equally by all ratepayers in the City of Westminster, who, as electors, can bring influence to bear upon their representatives and urge upon them the immediate need there is for a considered and adequate housing scheme. On Thursday, January 12th, the Mayor, in a report made to the councillors, stated that 451 houses were affected by the flood and 270 were affected by flood water from the drains. He analysed these figures further and stated that in the actually flooded area (St. John's Ward) forty-six basements had been occupied as separate dwellings. These basements, as everyone who has passed through the area knows, were in many cases cellar basements. In the Victoria Ward there are hundreds of basement dwellings just as bad, 'just as unfit for human occupation, which no citizen with a proper sense of responsibility towards his fellow men will consent to being used for human habitation.
The existence of such dwellings has been known to the City Council since 1924, for the official return in regard to basement dwellings issued in the Medical Officer's Report for 1923, on page 45, gives the following statistics :—
" (a) Number of basement dwellings with ceilings at or below the level of the street-2,620.
(b) Number of basement dwellings in which the area in street does not exceed three feet-625.
(c) Number of basement dwellings in which the area in street does not exceed four feet-635."
Whether these basements are let as separate dwellings or used in conjunction with an upper floor is of small moment. The housing shortage in Westminster is so acute that in nearly all the basement dwellings, basements are used for sleeping purposes by some members of the family. It is impossible to believe that the ratepayers of Westminster are satisfied with this state of things, or that they will be content until a housing scheme is devised which will ensure that no base- ment room, unless it conforms in every respect with the law in regard to such rooms, shall be used for sleeping accom- modation.
Much has been said in regard to the financial aspect of
housing, the small householder having. been specially marked out for consideration in regard to expenditure in providing adequate housing. What is the cost of the floods to the poor householder ? Loss of relatives, loss of home, loss of personal effects. Let me place against this loss a statement made in the City Council when in September last it met " To Make Rates." The chairman of the finance committee informed the Councillors that the expenditure for which it was necessary to budget was in excess of that of the previous half-year ; but that, in spite of that fact, owing to the increased rateable values in the city his committee was able to recommend a reduction in rates for the ensuing half-year, of one penny in the pound. One penny in the pound in Westminster yields 07,000. Without adding to the burden of the small house- holder this sum could have been allocated to housing.
As honorary secretary of the Westminster Housing Asso- ciation I make through your columns a very earnest appeal to all your readers to join us. I wish to point out that our object is to assist and stimulate the City Council to make full use of the powers given to Local Authorities under the 1925 Housing Act. Although we require financial aid in carrying on our work, it is the support of public opinion which member- ship of this Association represents that will ultimately ensure success. The minimum subscription has been fixed at one shilling, so that none shall be debarred from joining the move- ment. I beg all who are interested to send a subscription, large or small, according to their means. We hope that we may be in a position before long to call a public meeting to enlighten the ratepayers of Westminster as to the state of housing throughout the city, the law on this subject, and the unique opportunities which exist in Westminster for improving conditions.---I am, Sir, &c., G. FSILDING,
Westminster Housing Association, Hon.. Secretary.
32 Charing Cross, S.W. 1.
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