Urban housing reforms enacted in the late nineteenth century managed little results in providing working class immigrants better living conditions. The Tenement House Law of 1867 was the first reform act to set construction regulations for new and existing tenements, with the minimum requirements for fire escapes, sewage plumbing, and ventilation (History). However, the new regulations were hard to enforce and would prove to be more problematic than helpful due to the underlying problems with the overall construction. So how did the urban housing reforms add to the urban blight? For one the tenements were vastly overcrowded with poor immigrants who virtually had nowhere else to go. Each unit was cramped and had very little light or ventilation.