London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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London County Council 1911

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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189
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Housing Accounts and Statistics.
Housing Accounts—Memorandum by the Comptroller (Mr. H. E. Haward).
These accounts (see Appendix XVI.) relate to all the dwellings and lodging houses erected or
owned by the Council. The dwellings are provided either (a) under the Housing of the Working
Classes Act, 1890 (Parts I., II. and III.), or (b) under Improvement Acts.
The results of the year 1911-12, after interest and sinking fund charges have been met,
are shown by the Revenue Accounts (details on pages 24 and 25) to be as follows—
Summary of
results of year
Dwellings— £ s. d.
Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890 Surplus 5,472 16 3
Improvement Acts Surplus 2,859 18 9
Surplus on dwellings 8,332 15 -
Estates in Course of Development Deficiency 4,949 6 5
Net surplus on all dwellings a d estates 3,383 8 7
For the year 1910-11 there was a net deficiency on all dwellings and estates of £1,398 0s. Id.,
made up of a surplus on dwellings of £4,428 2s. 5d., and a deficiency on estates in course of
development of £5,826 2s. 6d.
Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890.
The Council's operations under the Housing Act comprise (a) dwellings erected under Parts
I. and II. of the Act to provide rehousing accommodation for persons displaced by schemes for the
clearance of insanitary areas, and (b) dwellings erected under Part III. of the Act to provide
accommodation for persons of the working classes,apart from any displacements. Dwellings erected
under Parts I. and II. represent, therefore, compulsory provision for rehousing under statutory
obligations, whereas dwellings under Part III. represent housing accommodation voluntarily provided
by the Council. In certain instances of compulsory rehousing it has been necessary to erect dwellings
on sites, on the working of which, owing to their character or situation, an unfavourable financial
result was anticipated from the first. These cases are separately shown in the accounts.
The account under Part III. is sub-divided to show the results of the dwellings apart
from the debt charges on estates in course of development, which are referred to in a subsequent
paragraph-
Housing Act,
1800.

The result of the year's working under the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, are as follows:-

£s.d.
art I.Surplus5,27882
„ II.Surplus2641211
5,54311
„ III.—DwellingsDeficiency70410
Net surplus on dwellings*5,472163
Part III.—Estates in course of developmentDeficiency4,94965
Net Surplus for Housing Act523910

Results of
year.
The deficiency on dwellings under Part III. includes £1,567 12s. 3d. in respect of Carrington
House, a lodging-house erected under Part III. but in fulfilment of rehousing obligations in connection
with the Mill-lane, Deptford, scheme under Part II.
The gross rental for the year from dwellings under the Housing Act was £159,037 0s. 2d.
Deducting therefrom allowances for empties, caretakers' quarters and amounts irrecoverable,
the net rental amounted to £143,929 4s. 7d., exclusive of £450 8s. 3d. for interest on cash balances.
The amount of rent irrecoverable was £149 9s. 4d., or only 0.10 percent, of the gross rental. The
total loss of income due to "empties" was £13,888 6s. 6d., or 8.73 percent, of the gross rental,
as against 10 32 per cent. in 1910-11. Of this loss £5,575 occurred on four estates, viz.:
Carrington House (£3,323, or 43.13 per cent. of gross rental), Hughes Fields Dwellings (£398, or 3107
percent.), Hughes Fields Cottages (£579, or 28.10 per cent.), and Preston's-road Estate (£1,275, or
31.84 percent.). On two other estates the loss from empties was more than 10 percent. of the
gross rental.
Income.