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Albert Cottage, Neville Road, was demolished in December, 1950, and the tenants were rehoused by the
Council.
There was an appeal against the order in the case of 32, Connaught Road, and the date of hearing was
January 12th, 1951. At the end of the year tenants in six houses where demolition orders were made were
still waiting to be rehoused by the Council.
Three properties with demolition orders dating from 1949 were demolished during the year, 195, 197,
and 199, Cambridge Road.
HOUSING.
The Housing (Standards of Fitness) Sub-committee continued the work of improving the conditions
in privately owned houses in the area by action under the Public Health Act, 1936, and the Housing Act, 1936.
Houses continued to be inspected as a result of tenants' complaints, which were almost equal to the number of
the previous year. The number of landlords who did not carry out the work of the repair notices under the
Public Health and Housing Acts increased : the number of court cases also increased. The general work of
the committee was described in the Annual Report for 1949.
The lack of homes in the district hinders the work of the committee in the closure and demolition of
slum property, since the tenants have no other place to go to. Tenants have had to remain for some time in
houses scheduled for demolition, and their living conditions in the meantime have become much worse; the
committee could only enforce action for serious nuisances, e.g., leaking roofs, drainage defects, etc.
Many houses in the district are becoming slum property, and it is doubtful whether the repeated patching
of these houses is the most economical in the long run; the building of new houses may cost more at
first, but it would save a lot of money on repairs and on the treatment of those whose health is affected by
living in slum conditions.
There are no accurate figures of present day overcrowding in the area, but it is unlikely that there has
been any marked improvement, since the increase in population has kept pace with the increases in housing
accommodation. 146 new housing units were built (including 46 rebuilt after war damage) and the waiting
list of applicants for houses has increased from 8,372 to 9,426.
OVERCROWDING.
Housing Act, 1936.
It is impossible to give accurate figures of the overcrowding in the borough without a general survev
of the housing accommodation. The Housing Department has, however, supplied some figures based mainly
on the statements of applicants for new houses.
(a) (i) Number of dwellings overcrowded at end of year 1,500
(ii) Number of families dwelling therein 1,500
(iii) Number of persons dwelling therein 5,250
(b) Number of new cases of overcrowding reported during the year 323
(c) (i) Number of cases of overcrowding relieved during the year 126
(ii) Number of persons concerned in such cases 633
(d) Cases in which dwelling houses have again become
overcrowded after the local authority have taken
steps for the abatement of overcrowding No information
(e) (i) Number of Council houses found to be overcrowded at end of year 153
(ii) Number of families dwelling therein 222
(iii) Number of persons dwelling therein 1,293
(f) Number of cases of overcrowding in Council
houses relieved during the year No information
HOUSING.
Houses erected by private enterprise 4
(In addition 46 were rebuilt after war damage).
Houses erected by Local Authority
Flats erected by Local Authority 96
Total number of applicants on Council's waiting list at December 31st, 1950 9,426