# Chapter V.
# HOUSING.
In recent years some evidence has been shewn amongst the artisan classes of the Colony of a quickening social consciousness and the resultant desire to avail themselves of improved housing accommodation wherever such is made available. The unskilled labouring classes, however, are still found densely packed in tenement houses deficient in light and air. These people have to find dwelling places as close as possible to the scene of their work, with the result that the western part of the City of Victoria, which houses the native business quarter and which closely adjoins that portion of the harbour where the traffic from the West River and from the coast ports is handled, is seriously overcrowded.
These conditions, which were, in the past, slowly mitigated by the rebuilding of properties condemned for reasons of structural defects, are now being more rapidly alleviated by the operation of the Buildings Ordinance, 1935, which came into force on the 1st of January, 1936. Overcrowding amongst the labouring class is, however, still prevalent.
The housing of the Colony is all privately owned, and control is maintained by the operation of the Buildings Ordinance, 1935, the provisions of which also regulate the character of the housing. Generally Chinese-type tenement houses are built back-to-back in rows and are separated by a scavenging lane. These houses vary in height from two to four storeys according to the width of the street on which they front. The average height per storey is twelve feet, a minimum being controlled by the Ordinance of 1903. The Buildings Ordinance, 1935, permits a minimum of eleven feet.
The houses built prior to the 1903 Ordinance covering the greater part of the native quarter are of depths varying from forty feet to eighty feet, with often less than 100 square feet of open space provided within the curtilage of the lot. With the passing of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, No. 1 of 1903, the amount of open space per house to be allowed within the boundaries of each lot was stipulated, and falls under two main heads. These are: (a) houses built on land bought prior to the passing of the Ordinance in 1903, where the open space must be not less than one-fourth of the area of the site, and (b) houses built on land bought subsequently, where the minimum is raised to one-third of the area. On plan the usual frontage of each house is fifteen feet (a dimension owing its origin more to early structural limitation than to economics), with a depth of about thirty-five feet, whilst each storey consists of one large "room" with a native type kitchen in the rear. This room is then subdivided by thin partitions seven feet high into three cubicles, each of which may accommodate a family. One latrine is built on the ground floor level of each house, irrespective of the number of occupants, and is common to all.
The earlier houses are constructed of blue bricks and timber. The bricks are of native manufacture and have a very low structural value, and the timber is usually of China fir which is extremely susceptible to the ravages of white ants. Lately, however, reinforced concrete and better quality bricks have been used.
In the City of Victoria the major defects of housing are due to lack of town planning. A large proportion of the City was erected in the early days of the Colony when town planning was little practised even in Europe, and the conditions to-day are a heritage the elimination of which would involve immense sums of money, and probably considerable opposition, if attempted on a large scale.
Generally, many of the old houses suffer from defects which are attributable to the Buildings Ordinance in force when they were built. This Ordinance, which was passed in 1903, was framed to meet existing conditions, both structurally and hygienically, as they were then understood and practised. But, viewed in the light of modern practice and knowledge, many of its provisions are now found to be inadequate.
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Chapter V.
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HOUSING.
In recent years some evidence has been shewn amongst the artisan classes of the Colony of a quickening social consciousness and the resultant desire to avail themselves of improved housing accommodation wherever such is made available. The unskilled labouring classes, however, are still found densely packed in tenement houses deficient in light and air. These people have to find dwelling places as close as possible to the scene of their work, with the result that the western part of the City of Victoria, which houses the native business quarter and which closely adjoins that portion of the harbour where the traffic from the West River and from the coast ports is handled, is seriously overcrowded.
These conditions, which were, in the past, slowly mitigated by the rebuilding of properties condemned for reasons of structural defects, are now being more rapidly alleviated by the operation of the Buildings Ordinance, 1935, which came into force on the 1st of January, 1936. Overcrowding amongst the labouring class is, however, still prevalent.
j The housing of the Colony is all privately owned, and control is maintained by the operation of the Buildings Ordinance, 1935, the provisions of which also regulate the character of the housing. Generally Chinese-type tenement houses are built back-to-back in rows and are separated by a scavenging lane. These houses vary in height from two to four storeys according to the width of the street on which they front. The average height per storey is twelve feet, a minimum being controlled by the Ordinance of 1903. The Buildings Ordinance, 1935, permits a minimum of eleven feet. The houses built prior to the 1903 Ordinance covering the greater part of the native quarter are of depths varying from forty feet to eighty feet, with often less than 100 square feet of open space provided within the curtilage of the lot. With the passing of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, No. 1 of 1903, the amount of open space per house to be allowed within the boundaries of each lot was stipulated, and falls under two main heads. These are: (a) houses built on land bought prior to the passing of the Ordinance in 1903, where the open space must be not less than one-fourth of the area of the site, and (b) houses built on land bought subsequently, where the minimum is raised to one-third of the area. On plan the usual frontage of each house is fifteen feet (a dimension owing its origin more to early structural limitation than to economics), with a depth of about thirty-five feet, whilst each storey consists of one large "room" with a native type kitchen in the rear. This room it then subdivided by thin partitions seven feet high into three cubicles, each of which may accommodate a family. One latrine is built on the ground floor level of each house, irrespective of the number of occupants, and is common to all.
The earlier houses are constructed of blue bricks and timber. The bricks are of native manufacture and have a very low structural value, and the timber is usually of China fir which is extremely susceptible to the ravages of white ants. Lately, however, reinforced concrete and better quality bricks have been used.
In the City of Victoria the major defects of housing are due to lack of town planning. A large proportion of the City was erected in the early days of the Colony when town planning was little practised even in Europe, and the conditions to-day are a heritage the elimination of which would involve immense sums of money, and probably considerable opposition, if attempted on a large scale.
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Generally, many of the old houses suffer from defects which are attributable to the Buildings Ordinance in force when they were built. This Ordinance, which was passed in 1903, was framed to meet existing conditions, both structurally and hygienically, as they were then understood and practised. But, viewed in the light of modern practice and knowledge, many of its provisions are now found to be inadequate.
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