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51
Projected clearance areas (section 25)
I mentioned in my report for 1949 that work was proceeding on
the preparation of a map of the borough showing areas of about ten
houses or more which, without a detailed survey, were considered to
be (a) representable or (b) likely to be representable in a few years,
and copies of a schedule of the properties concerned showing, according
to the condition of the slums, the priority in which the areas should be
cleared, and giving an estimate of the number of families which the
clearance would displace. This information was required by the
London county council. The information required was obtained and
forwarded to the county council in March, 1950. The following is a
list of the areas included :—
No. 1 Lee No. 5 Sydenham
No. 2 Sydenham No. 6 Forest Hill
No. 3 Hither Green No. 7 Forest Hill
No. 4 Sydenham No. 8 Forest Hill
It was estimated that in all, 561 families would be displaced by
the clearance of these areas, and the priority in which the areas should
be cleared is in accordance with the numerical order in which the areas
are placed.
For the administrative county of London as a whole, the following
numbers of unfit houses have been estimated :—
Category I — Probably representable at once ... 10,347
II — For consideration after, say, five
years 9,066
III — For consideration later, probably
not within, say, ten years 19,614
The list of areas in category I was examined by the LCC in detail
to ascertain their zoning in the Draft Development Plan. Allowing for
reduced densities for new development under postwar standards and
for multiple occupation and overcrowding, it was thought that areas
which could be redeveloped for housing purposes would absorb at most
only about two-thirds of the families displaced from them, and areas
which could not be redeveloped for housing would need approximately
one and a half times their present number of houses to accommodate
the displaced population. From the figures available, it appears that
the clearance of 12,500 houses might require the provision of over
7,500 additional dwellings elsewhere than on the sites of the cleared
areas.
A conference was held in February, 1951 between representatives
of the Lewisham borough council and the London county council with
reference to this council's reponsibilities in connection with the projected
resumption of slum clearance generally and in particular the No. 1 Lee
area. It was explained by officers of the London county council that the
Minister of Health was not contemplating authorising a general
resumption of slum clearance, but was intending to fix the number of
slum dwellings which might be dealt with in certain specified areas
year by year. The county council had suggested to the Minister that so