the mbw had very little affection from the people of london. its status as a joint board insulated its members from any influence of popular opinion, though all property-owners had to pay for its work as part of their local government rates. worse, the very many building contracts issued by the mbw made membership of it desirable for anyone wishing to bid for them. the mbw took most of its decisions in secret. there were a succession of corruption scandals in the late 1880s, which led to a royal commission investigation. by this time, the public had dubbed the mbw as the "metropolitan board of perks".