Letters to the Editor
HOW TO ABOLISH THE SLUMS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sus,—We owe, you many thanks for making the recent Report on and Survey of Housing Conditions in the Victoria Ward, Westminster, the text for a general attack on the national scandal of the slums : as also for the suggestion made in your issue of July. 16th of a National Rehousing Loan.
Will you allow me to point .out that, many and various as are the solutions put forward by your correspondents—and they range from the certification of vermin to the provision of dormitories for young men and young women—as far as the City of Westminster is concerned the problem is an entirely manageable one under the existing Acts, especially the Act
of 1925, which confers such wide powers on the local authority. Since no vast scheme of slum clearance is necessary these powers are ample. to transform the area in question. So are the financial capacities of the City, whether with or without a
subsidy.
Further, I would like to remind the residents of Westminster that the contemplated removal of the Rent Restrictions Act from the Statute Book will undoubtedly entail great hardship on their poorer fellow tenants. There are landlords among us who will not hesitate to use their immunity to acquire higher rents. And once more, to what yet viler slums will the dishoused be driven ?—I am, Sir, &c., VICTORIA DE BUNSEN,
Chairman, Westminster Survey Group. 14 North Street, Westminster, S.W.1.
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