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85
the Borough, and of submitting a scheme for their erection
thereunder.
The Sub.Committee have met on several occasions, and have
had before them reports from the Town Clerk and Medical
Officer of Health upon the matter, and have viewed suggested
sites. They inform us that they have obtained the best information
possible to enable them to form an estimate of the
number of houses required in the Borough to satisfy the
present demand.
The Housing Department of the Ministry of Munitions
(Woolwich Estates) has already received over 2,000 applications
which they are unable to satisfy ; most of the house agents in
the Borough have also been inundated with applications, one
firm alone putting the number as high as 2,000 ; and many
agents have put up notices in their offices that there are no
houses to let, which, of course, has the effect of stopping
applications.
The Medical Officer has obtained estimates, through the
Sanitary Inspectors, of overcrowding, and informs us that he
estimates the new accommodation required will exceed 2,000
houses, and that the general shortage of housing accommodation
in the London Area will, no doubt, still further largely
increase this demand.
The percentage of empty houses in the Borough is the
lowest on record, and amounts to only 0'45 per cent., many of
these empty properties being unsuitable for housing purposes.
There are approximately 3,000 acres of land in the Borough
upon which houses could be erected.
Of the sites considered, the Housing Sub.Committee unanimously
came to the conclusion that that on the Page Estate,
Eltham, was the most suitable, and would allow of the most
comprehensive scheme. This site extends south from the
Greenwich Cemetery on the west side of Well Hall Road to
"Harrowfield" in Eltham Road, and runs at the back of the