NO RENT FOR 20 YEARS

Waipa Post, Volume 44, Issue 3180, 21 May 1932, Page 8

NO RENT FOR 20 YEARS

THREE FAMILIES FORGOTTEN. Three families have been living rent free for 20 years at Bermondsey, London., They had been forgotten all that time by the Borough Council. The foundations of this Gilbertian situation were laid just before the war, when over 20 houses and shops in White Lion Court were condemned as unfit for occupation. Even in those days alternative accommodation was not easy to find and the order was not enforced, although the tenants were told to find other dwellings as soon as possible. Many of them moved and the premises were demolished. Others stayed oj , and no attempt was made to evict them. Three houses are still occupied, and although rates have been demanded year by year from the families who occupy them, no rent has been asked for. Recently, when sites for new dwellings were being sought, the council rediscovered White Lion Court. So an official informed the remaining tenants that it was time they sought other accommodation. The Housing Committee, it is expected, will recondemn the houses and enforce the order as quickly as possible.