How bad were living conditions inTowns in the early 19th Century?

Within the working class areas of industrial towns such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool living conditions were very bad indeed in the early 19th century. Poor living conditions were due to insufficient planning, bad housing, poor sewerage disposal, inadequate water supplies, and diseases.
Bad planning led to poor living conditions in towns in the early 19th century because of a rapid growth in industrialisation. Local authorities had very little employers and experienced employers and so they had weak knowledge and judgement to enforce regulations, which would deal with new methods. Back to back housing was created to pack as many houses in as possible and cheaply as could be done, forgetting simple things e.g. deep foundations to make the housing sound, but were ‘jerry built’. Yet poor sewerage disposal conditions were not new as they were the same in the countryside. Most of the rich members of the council and citizens did not want high rates of taxes but to ke...