Page:Dwellings of working-people in London.djvu/15

 'There are many large sites in and around London, suitable for dwellings for working-men, and such sites have been in the market for years unsold, simply because the price asked is far above the value. I know of one in Lambeth for sale since 1868, in which year I offered a fair price for the Peabody Trust. There are now unsold several suitable sites in Westminster, one in Goswell Street, one in Whitechapel, one in City Road; land in Westminster little used belonging to Trustees who cannot sell without compulsory powers; land in Paddington kept in a useless state by an old man quite incapable of dealing with his property, and this land is in a situation much wanting help with clean houses; a property in Westminster consisting of two plots of land, both too small to be dealt with separately, but having some of the worst houses in Westminster between the plots. These houses cannot be purchased without compulsory powers.'

The statement which I have quoted shows the existence of sites to a large extent which might be used for the purpose of building proper dwellings for the poor.

There are other spaces also which might be made available, where, under the act passed by my hon. friend the member for Finsbury (Mr. Torrens), the Medical Officers of Health have stepped in and have moved the Vestries to demolish buildings unfit for habitation. In some of these places sites have been cleared and still remain cleared without being made useful or productive for any purpose. I saw one of these properties (belonging to the Foundling Hospital) in Bloomsbury, near Russell Square, which scarcely can be utilised, partly because there are not proper approaches, and partly because, though tolerably large, it is not sufficiently extensive to be made use of by the Peabody Trustees or others, unless compulsory powers could be obtained over the adjoining property. In this space, when I saw it the other day, there were heaps of offensive refuse thrown from the neighbouring houses, and the Vestry were employing several men—naturally not without expense to the ratepayers—to clear the rubbish away.

I think, then, I have shown the House that there exists in London a plentiful supply of sites which might be used for the purpose of erecting good dwellings; sites at present occupied by houses unfit for habitation; sites which cannot be turned to account in consequence of the too high prices asked for them by their owners, and sites too small to be