The Kensington Housing Trust
!‘ y THOUGHT it was the Borough Council making my --I- home so decent, and being so generous about it ! " This was the view expressed by one of the tenants of a house that has just been made fit for healthy habitation by the Kensington Housing Trust, Ltd.
This body was registered as a Public Utility Society last June in order to give practical effect to the aims of the Kensington Housing Association, especially in pro- viding new dwellings at low rents, and mitigating over- crowding by skilled management. According to the census, there are 366 persons per residential acre in one ward in North Kensington as compared with 67 in the Holland Ward of South Kensington. In 15 houses recently surveyed by the Association there were found to be 105 tenants, representing a population of 370, of which 142 were children under 14 years of age. We all know the results of such conditions—too grim at times to be published.
The Trust, of which Lord Balfour of Burleigh is Chairman, is fighting these evils. They have taken over on a twenty-one years' lease from the Great Western Railway, twenty-four tenement houses that were origin- ally built for occupation each by one family, and are now occupied by three or more families. One house has been derelict for twenty years, and is now held at a peppercorn rent. It has been entirely reconstructed into two maisonettes in the last three months, and these are now occupied by two families who were making the best of two rooms near by. One family consists of father, mother, a grown-up son and daughter, and a small son.
The other family consists of father, mother, four sons, aged 22,17, 9 and 7, and two daughters aged 20 and 14. Imagine the joy of the two mothers to see their children living under decent conditions.
Other houses in Wornington Road, dirty, verminous, and damp, are being put into a state Of repair. Even from the outside the newly pointed walls and green doors mark the change, while inside new windows and bor- rowed lights have let in sunshine and air. There are being installed in each house a bathroom, an additional sink on the first landing, and better lavatory accommodation. The tenants are delighted with the improvements. After being accustomed to landlords who refused to do any- thing, it surprises them to find that the woman manager, trained on the Octavia Hill system, who calls each week for the rent, is so ready to deal with any defects that need remedying. One housewife declared that now she had got clean rooms she was at last going to have a nice home, and intended to buy some new furniture. The tenants of those houses that have not yet been reconditioned are asking anxiously when their turn will come. It should be noted that all the present tenants are being retained, and the rents charged average 4s. 6d. per front room, and 3s. 6d. for a back room per week.
- Other operations that the Trust has in hand include the erection of two fiats on a vacant site at Threshers' Place in Notting Dale, given by Mrs. Ernest Schuster. One is already occupied by a man, his wife, and seven children. Each flat is compact, consisting of a living room, three bedrooms, scullery, bathroom and lavatory, and is let at 1'6s. per week.
The third scheme is at Mary Place, bounded on two sides by Avondale Park, an ideal site for a block of tene- ment fiats. At present there are fourteen cottages, some of which are in an extremely dilapidated and insanitary condition. It is proposed to demolish these and erect a four-storey block containing about forty flats. This buikling will be erected in sections, so as to find alterna- - tive acconunodation for the people living in the cottages before their present homes are pulled down. It is hoped to start building early in the New Year.
These three different schemes have all been started within the last six months. It is, however, important to recognize that there are special reasons in North Ken- sington for the success that has already been attained.
First and foremost the Trust has been exceedingly for tunate to have the whole-hearted help in an honorary capacity of Mr. H. Robinson, who retired three years aga from his work as one of the leading architects and civil engineers in the Straits Settlements. He is giving generously of his time and technical experience.
Secondly, the Trust are in possession of property in- habited by a good class of tenants who are proving ready to co-operate, in spite of temporary inconvenience, in the reconditioning. The property, too, at Wornington Road is in fair structural condition, and therefore the money expended on repairs will not be wasted as may be the case in some schemes elsewhere.
Thirdly, the capital received up to date is largely derived from free gifts. Since the prospectus was issued 12,086 us. 6d. has been received in donations ; £627 in shares at nominal dividends ; £1,385 in 21 per cent. Loan Stock, and £620 at 4 per cent. This generosity in pro- viding capital at a low rate of interest means low rents, for on a £600 house or flat, every 1 per cent. off the rate of interest paid enables a reduction in the rent to be made of 2s. 4d. per week.
The Trust is now appealing for a further £20,000, and full details are available on the prospectus, which may be obtained from the Secretary at 138 Portobello Road, London, W. 11.
A fourth advantage enjoyed by the Trust is that in Kensington there are several women managers trained on the Octavia Hill system. It has therefore been com- paratively simple to arrange for skilled management, without incurring any undue expense. The lady who collects the rents is paid at the rate of 6 per cent. commission.
These practical points are given, for there is a danger in some other districts that the zeal of local housing reformers may lead them to overlook the necessity of obtaining capital as gifts or at as low rate of interest as possible ; of securing trained managers ; and above all, of relying at every step upon sound technical and pro- fessional advice. Without these essentials the generosity of sympathizers may easily be thrown away. Under existing conditions, the Kensington Housing Trust is setting an inspiring example which certainly should be followed in other parts of Great Britain.
B. S. TOWN ROE.
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