EMPTY DWELLINGS IN LONDON

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1181, 19 September 1885, Page 4

EMPTY DWELLINGS IN LONDON

One hundred .arid fifty thousand houses ! . Such is tbe estimate (writes the London correspondent of the li New Zealand Times ") made last year of the number of ein^tydwellings in London, and it is to be feared that this year the state of things is but little better. This untoward coritlition of affairs arises partly from depression of trade and partly from bver-building. The population, of the metropolis increases at the rate of about 50,000 per annum, and to meet this at least 20,000 neir houses are erected every year. Probably for some time past this number has been exceeded, owing to a mania for over-building. This mania unfortunately is not confined to the banks of the Thames. Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and other great cities, have all alike been going ahead too fast, and are suffering accordingly. Suggestions have lately been made that new houses in future should be taxed, not only in order to put a check on jerey building, but also to introduce some kind of State supervision as an addendum to the impost. Already, the result of the agitation that has been going on for years in the matter of sanitation has resulted in a markpd dimunition of the national death rate, and a corresponding increase in the average duration of life ; in the case of males, at least two or three years, and more for females. The Society of Arts some years ago formulated a scheme for the registration of houses, but it never came to anything. There exist, however, at the present time several associations whose members pay a small annual fee to competent officials in return for advice and yearly inspection, but it really requires State aid to effectually grapple with the difficulty. . ,