110 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NORWICH AND DISTRICT 
eight large areas have been purchased and developed as housing estates, 
while a further area has recently been acquired. The number of houses 
built and occupied under the various housing schemes at the time of 
writing is approximately 5,000. ‘These consist of parlour and non- 
parlour houses, but the majority are non-parlour with three bedrooms. 
The weekly rent of each of the non-parlour three-bedroomed houses is 
5s. plus rates, at present amounting to 3s. 3d., and, except for abatements 
in rent to certain tenants removed from slum areas, there is no system of 
varying rents as in some towns. 
The rents of the houses are collected by the staff of the Corporation, 
and the management of the estates is based upon what is known as the 
Octavia Hill system. The Corporation’s staff are not mere rent collectors, 
but do their best to consider the welfare of the tenants and give them 
friendly advice where necessary. A handbook containing useful in- 
formation is issued to each tenant, and to encourage tenants to interest 
themselves in their gardens a competition is held annually and prizes 
given for the best gardens. The rent roll of the Housing Estates is 
£120,000 per annum. 
With regard to slum clearance schemes, the Corporation have a pro- 
gramme involving the demolition of 2,900 houses, and the rehousing of 
9,500 persons. A good start has been made, and I think it would be 
correct to say that Norwich can be included among those cities which are 
most active in proceeding with slum clearance. Up to date thirty-five 
Clearance Orders or Compulsory Purchase Orders have been made, in- 
volving 1,200 houses and 4,000 persons: 750 new houses and flats have 
been erected or are being erected, and 2,000 persons have been rehoused. 
The Housing Estates of the Corporation are laid out upon the most 
up-to-date town-planning lines, and the difference between the amenities 
of these estates and the conditions existing in the areas from which the 
slum tenants are moved is very marked. 
Schools, branch libraries and shops have been erected in conjunction 
with the development of the estates, while in some cases allotments and 
recreation grounds have been provided in the vicinity. In fact, the 
housing work of the Corporation, although by no means complete, is one 
for legitimate pride of achievement. 
The removal and rehousing of such a large number of persons involves 
many difficult problems. Norwich is not a city where there are large 
blocks of insanitary dwellings in an area and nothing else, as in some of 
the larger towns in the North. The dwellings here are frequently inter- 
mingled with factories and business premises, and, apart from that, some 
of the dwellings are of considerable antiquarian interest. 
The problem of redevelopment after the insanitary houses have been 
demolished is therefore difficult, and it is essential in most cases to include 
in the area other properties, so as to ensure a proper scheme. Another 
factor which has a considerable bearing on the question is the narrowness 
of some of the streets, and in this connection it is obvious that if rebuilding 
is to take place the streets must be widened. It will be seen, therefore, 
that redevelopment in Norwich is not only difficult but expensive, and 
largely arises from haphazard lay-out of the city in past years. At the 
