House property & its management : $b Some papers on the methods of management introduced by Miss Octavia Hill and adapted to modern conditionsHill, Octavia
History
House property & its management : $b Some papers on the methods of management introduced by Miss Octavia Hill and adapted to modern conditions
Hill, Octavia
Housing -- England -- London; Landlord and tenant -- England -- London; Working class -- Dwellings; Working class -- England -- London
The Sub-Committee believe that the introduction of a suitable form of
management, insisted on by some recognized authority, could have
prevented the creation of slums in the past. They further believe that
it may do so in the future, and that it can, with special effort,
eradicate much that is evil in present bad areas. Miss Octavia Hill’s
System put into practice the theory that slums could be eradicated and
advanced the proposition that management could be made a means to this
end. She, the first Woman House Property Manager, and workers she
trained, all of them also women, introduced Social Economics into the
business of House Property Management. The Sub-Committee feel strongly
that many social evils might be avoided by the adoption of Social
Economics into business generally. The distinctive mark of Miss Hill’s
System is the consideration of the personal, human factor as an integral
part of the business. The Sub-Committee can find no justification for
condemning this principle as unbusinesslike.
The Sub-Committee have considered the work done by Miss Hill and those
who have succeeded her, by visits, and they have read reports of the
work in various cities and towns in England and Scotland, in Holland
(see _Women’s Local Government News_, February and March 1921) and in
America (see _Good Housing that Pays_). They find there is evidence of
many slum areas redeemed. Improvements by rebuilding have almost
necessarily accompanied the work in nearly every case, but there are
striking instances of the maintenance of the original old property in
excellent sanitary condition. On the other hand, evidences of new
properties falling into disrepair for lack of management are not
wanting.
II. MANAGERS.
On all working-class estates, whether of higher or lower grade, there is
much evidence to show that managers should be in complete control,
attending to all matters connected with the property, including the
collection of rents and repairs. There is evidence that the separation
of responsibility for rent collecting and for ordering and
superintending repairs leads to delay in repairs, and, in some cases,
has acted adversely on the rent collecting. Rent collectors who are not
responsible for repairs are apt to forget to report the need of them.
Whether the manager should be a man or a woman is not, in the opinion of
the Sub-Committee, so important as that the principle of management
inaugurated by Miss Hill should be adopted. At the same time, they are
agreed that it should not be overlooked—
(1) That the housekeeper is always a woman;
(2) That the woman usually pays the rent;
(3) That housekeeping and repairs are closely connected; and
(4) That, therefore, a woman will usually be better equipped than a
man to deal with the problems arising out of the management of
working-class property.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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