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
London County Council 1914
Annual report of the Council, 1914 Vol. III public health...
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51
Report of the County Medical Officer—General.
Under Section 17 (7) of the Housing and Town Planning Act, 1909, a room habitually used as a
sleeping place, the surface of the floor of which is more than three feet below the surface of the part of
the street adjoining or nearest to the room, is deemed to be unfit for human habitation, if it is not on
an average at least seven feet in height from floor to ceiling, or does not comply with regulations which
the local authority with the consent of the Local Government Board may prescribe. So far as is
shown in recent annual reports of medical officers of health, regulations made by fifteen authorities have
been approved by the Local Government Board, these authorities being the metropolitan borough
councils of Battersea, Deptford, Fulham, Hampstead, Holborn, Kensington, Lambeth, Paddington,
Poplar, St. Marylebone, St. Pancras, Shoreditch, Stoke Newington, Wandsworth and Woolwich.
The following table, showing the number of dwelling rooms found overcrowded, according to the standard prescribed by the bylaws relating to houses let in lodgings, in each metropolitan borough, is compiled from information supplied by the medical officers of health, in their annual reports :—
| Metropolitan borough. | No. of dwelling-rooms overcrowded. | No. remedied. | No. of prosecutions. |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of London | 8 | 8 | — |
| Battersea | 33 | 33 | — |
| Bermondsey | 44 | 44 | — |
| Bethnal GreeD | 156 | 156 | — |
| Camberwell | 96 | 96 | — |
| Chelsea | 7 | 7 | — |
| Deptford | 28 | 28 | — |
| Finsbury | 103 | 103 | — |
| Fulham | 45 | 45 | — |
| Greenwich | 16 | 16 | — |
| Hackney | 62 | 62 | — |
| Hammersmith | 18 | 18 | — |
| Hampstead | 10 | 10 | — |
| Holborn | 32 | 32 | — |
| Islington | 187 | 187 | — |
| Kensington | 77 | 77 | — |
| Lambeth | 31 | 31 | — |
| Lewisham | 22 | 22 | — |
| Paddington | 197 | 80 | 1 |
| Poplar | 61 | 61 | — |
| St. Marylebone | 40 | 40 | — |
| St. Pancras | 96 | 96 | — |
| Shoreditch | 256 | 256 | — |
| Southwark | 295 | 295 | — |
| Stepney | 463 | 463 | 1 |
| Stoke Newington | 9 | 9 | — |
| Wandsworth | 81 | 81 | — , |
| Westminster, City of | 52 | 52 | — |
| Woolwich | 93 | 93 | — |
| Totals | 2,618 | 2,501 | 2 |
The following table has been compiled from the annual reports of medical officers of health, and shows the number of houses let in lodgings on the register, the number of inspections, notices issued and proceedings taken during the year 1914.
| City of London | 208 | |||||
| Battersea | 114 | ___ | 114 | 99 | — | |
| Bermondsey | 218 | 7 | 2 | 223 | 446 | — |
| Bethnal Green | 253 | 30 | 10 | 273 | 1,126 | —- |
(Continued on next page.)
(a) Including rooms found overcrowded in 1913.
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