(38)
What would be the extreme depth ?—I should limit the depth of dwelling rooms, which are lighted only on one side, to 30 feet.
Mr. EDE-Does the height of the room affect it ?--To a certain extent.
The CHAIRMAN-And the width of the street?--To a certain extent.
Hon. C. P. CHATER--What is the height of the rooms built within the last ten or fifteen years?-Under the present Building Ordinance the limit is 9 feet, but I think they are all 11 to 12 feet.
Mr. EDE-Do you consider that a room which is 9 feet in height and 30 feet in depth, with a street only 15 feet in width, is a sanitary place for people to dwell in ?-- According to our European ideas it may not--
I ask for your opinion.--I say it is not insanitary for Chinese.
Hon. C. P. CHATER--Are there many of these houses 30 feet deep with no back- yards at all?--Yes, plenty of them.
Mr. EDE--And no ventilation at the back?--No ventilation.
Hon. C. P. CHATER--If backyards were made compulsory the rooms of the houses would not be so large ?--It would take off 10 feet for the yard plus one foot 6 inches for the extra wall, and so deduct 11 feet 6 inches off 30 feet, thus you would knock nearly 40 per cent. off the room and consequently off the value of the property.
And the rent would be reduced by 40 per cent.?--Yes.
How would you propose to make these more sanitary than they are at the present moment?-The smaller houses?
Say these 30-feet houses.-I think no room only 30 feet deep with 10 per cent. of window area to floor is insanitary.
Suppose these houses were 40 feet deep and back to back without any yard.- Then I should oblige the owners to open them. I would make a sliding scale, so to speak. I would so make it that a house, the dwelling room of which did not exceed 30 feet, did not require any light or ventilation at the back, and from 30 to 40 feet deep half the width of the room should be opened out.
How would you do that?--I would pull out half the kitchen.
That would make it satisfactory?—Certainly,
Suppose 50 feet?-For rooms exceeding 40 feet I would have a 10-foot backyard the full width of the room.
Can most of these houses afford 10 feet-houses, I mean, as built at the present moment?-By my arrangement houses the dwelling rooms of which did not exceed 30 feet deep would lose nothing; the 30 to 40-foot-deep-roomed houses would lose none of their dwelling space and only half of their kitchen, and houses with rooms 40 feet and over would have to lose 10 feet for yard, plus 1 foot 6 inches the thickness of the wall; but they could afford it as the percentage of loss would be very much less.
If this were decided upon how could it be done? By an Ordinance forcing people to do it? That is the only way you would get it done.
The landlords themselves would certainly not do it, but is there no other way of doing it?—No other way unless the Government do it.
The CHAIRMAN-Do it for the owners?-The Government may do it, or the owners may do it, and the cost debited to the owners or to the Government.
The object is to make these houses sanitary ?--Yes.