Wellington Shanties.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXX, Issue XV, 11 April 1903, Page 1038

Wellington Shanties.

A truly shocking state of affairs iu regard to the houses in some of the more notorious parts of Wellington City was revealed last week by a report of tne Housing Committee which was set up by the City Council eight months ago to go into the question of housing accommodation in Wellington. In the streets and lanes off Tory-street, the houses are described as being very bad —“built too close,” “having no proper conveniences,” and “disgraceful.” Other houses have rotten timbers, and in one street there is one house still standing of four rooms, let at 9/ a week, which was condemned in 1896. As to the houses of Frederiek-street the report says: “Many are old, have small rooms, are very damp, have no conveniences, and are infested with rats. The south side is a very shallow section, the water and refuse of which drain into the yards.” Of Haining-street the report states: “Mostly rookeries, timbers rotten, the yards filthy.” The street should be entirely cleared.” Taranaki-street: “Some fairly good houses, but several should be destroyed.” Cuba-street: At the back “the houses are very old, having no conveniences, and infested with rats.”

Some houses in Peter-street, on the Thorndon Quay, Grant-road. Little George-street, Saunders’ Lane, Express Avenue, King-street, Little Taranakistreet, North-street, and elsewhere, also come in for more or less strong criticism. Here are a few entries regarding Hain-ing-street: “A horrible den”; “this house specially fitted up for fan-tan”; “prostitutes”; “opium den, house rotten and dilapidated”; “eould obtain no entrance”; “no one up at 11.30 a.m.” Of anol her house in another street the report stated: “This house is upstairs of a very ricketty character. In a yard there are two rooms occupied by two bachelors. These rooms seems as if they had been formed out of outhouses; rent of each 2/6.” There were seven occupants in one house of two rooms visited by

the committee. There are nineteen houses of three rooms with five occupants each, ten of the same size with six occupants each, seven of three rooms with seven inmates each, and one of the same size with eight inmates. In the four-roomed houses the largest number of inmates was nine. In each of two houses there were eleven occupants of one five-roomed house, ami ten in another.

Rents varied as follow:—One-roomed house, 4/ to 5/; two rooms, 5/ to 11/; three rooms, 6/ to 14/; four rooms, 6/ to 14/; five rooms, 7/ to 15/; six rooms, 12/ to 21/; seven rooms, 12/ to 22/. These houses, of course, are not in particularly high-class localities, and in many cases are not in very good condition. One three-roomed house, for instance, for which 11/ a week is paid, is in a bunch described as “a bad lot, whole street of a very low character.” Similar sized houses infested with rats or bugs bring 12/. A five-roomed house had an iron stove put in, and the rent was raised 2/ a week (to 11/) in consequence. The number of houses visited bv the committee totalled 303. of which' onehalf could be set down as being in a bad condition. It was stated that it was almost impossible to find out the number of persons inhabiting some of the houses in the lower class of-’streets, as these houses were crowded at night and almost empty during the day. In face of these disgraceful revelations, it is not surprising that the Council adopted the recommendation of the committee that the facts, as tabulated, should receive the serious consideration of the incoming Council, with a view to improving the housing accommodation for the working class.