London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Orpington 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Orpington]
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| (3) Number of dwelling houses found to be in a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation | 2 |
| (4) Number of dwelling houses (exclusive of those referred to under the preceding sub-head) found not to be in all respects reasonably fit for human habitation | 107 |
| Remedy of defects during the year without service of formal notices:— | |
| Number of defective dwelling houses rendered fit in consequence of informal action by the Local Authority or their Officers | 97 |
| (5) (a) Unfit houses demolished | 4 |
| (b) Unfit houses closed | 1 |
Moveable Dwellings.
Fifty-four visits were made to the six caravan sites.
Two of the sites have been issued with a Licence and the remaining
four are still under consideration.
At the end of the year, the Council agreed to set up a site for
twelve gipsy caravans at St. Paul's Cray Hill Park, near Star Lane,
as part of the country-wide scheme instigated by the Ministry of
Housing and Local Government for establishing properly equipped
sites for gipsies.
A possibility of the scheme is the gradual absorption of families
into society by re-housing from the site.
Re-Housing.
I am indebted to the Housing and Estates Manager for the following statistics on re-housing carried out by the Local Authority
| Prior to 1963 | During 1963 | Total as at December, 1963 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. (a) No. of "permanent" dwellings built by Local Authority | 2,476 | 56 | 2,532 |
| (b) No. of pre-fabricated dwellings built by Local Authority | 308 | 308 | |
| 2. (a) No. of families occupying 1 (a) | 2,532 plus lodgers. | ||
| (b) No. of families occupying 1 (b) | 308 plus lodgers | ||
| 3. Total number of families re-housed during 1963 in | |||
| (a)—103—56 new houses (b) 7 re-lets, 40 re-lets | |||
| 4. No. of families on waiting list at 31st December, 1963, in various categories (" live " applications) | 668 | ||
| (a) Families in urgent need of other accommodation | 60 | ||
| (b) Families whose applications require early consideration | 52 | ||
| (c) Families whose applications are less urgent | 271 | ||
| (d) Families with varying degrees of housing need | 285 | ||