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51
On its estates, the London County Council sets apart each
year a certain small number of houses, to accommodate families
in each metropolitan borough, subject to special housing hardships
on the recommendation of the local medical officers of health.
Such priority recommendations are successfully advanced, for
example, where there is grave overcrowding, sex promiscuity, or
where large families with many small children, or tuberculous
members, live in dark, ill ventilated basements. Other examples
include cases where the families are under notice to quit following
a magistrate's order, or where the premises are being partly or
completely demolished owing to their dangerous condition. Before
priority claims are sent to the London County Council, the homes
of the prospective tenants are visited by the district sanitary
inspector and by the medical officer of health, and those cases
selected where the tenants have clean, good homes, are not given
to destroying or damaging their premises, are good neighbours,
not quarrelsome and are able to afford the rents of the new houses,
and the fares, where necessary, to proceed to and from their places
of business. On the last head it is felt to be unkind to help persons
to get a better home in the country and after removal for them to
find that they are unable to pay the increased rents, the comparatively
high fares and the other charges. The other enquiries, at
the special request of the London County Council, are directed to the
prevention of the establishment of slums in the new districts.
Every application for priority is carefully and sympathetically
considered, and the unsuccessful applications are again reconsidered
as the number of applications gets less. Before the
prospective tenants are finally accepted, they are visited by a
special officer of the County Council.
In 1925, applications were received in the Finsbury Public
Health Department for preferential treatment on account of
special alleged housing hardships from 103 families. Of these,
8 withdrew their applications before enquiry, chiefly because they
had obtained accommodation elsewhere, 26 were deterred from
proceeding further on account of the additional expense of travelling
to and from their work. 32 families were not recommended for
various reasons, e.g., because of their serious arrears of rent, dirty
homes, quarrelsome or destructive proclivities.