Upon several points there was an absolute consensus of opinion.
One of these was that all houses let out in separate tenements and inhabited by many families should be registered by the local authorities—that rules and regulations should be made for their management, and that constant inspection by the sanitary authority was an absolute necessity if the proper conditions of health were to be maintained.
The Medical Officer of Health for Bethnal Green wrote:—
“All sanitary evils fall with greatest force upon those who are unable to quit the scene of their misery or to provide the means for its alleviation.
“Nothing but adaptation of the present houses to the necessities of healthy existence and the demolition of those houses that are unfit for human habitation can contribute so much to life and strength.”
A Committee of the District Board in Poplar wrote (1866):—
“It would be a satisfactory alteration of the law if no houses were allowed to be tenanted unless a certificate that these premises were fit for habitation were first obtained from the District Board of Works.”
And the necessity of constant inspection was even more vigorously expressed.
The Medical Officer of Health for Hackney wrote (1861):—
“The experience of the past year again shows the necessity of keeping up a regular and efficient supervision of the interior of houses….