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underground rooms in the Borough used for living and/or sleeping
purposes when it was found that there were 5,273 such rooms in
Camberwell. Of these there were 557 cases where the height of the
room was less than 7 ft., and 90 instances where the occupation of
the room infringed the provisions of the Public Health (London)
Act.
The sanitary defects usually found in underground rooms
which render their use undesirable for these purposes are dampness
owing to the absence of damp-proof courses and concrete over-site,
inadequate natural lighting and ventilation due to the height
of the rooms, size and positioning of windows, and an impure
atmosphere caused by the entry to the rooms of dust and other
impurities from the street level.
During the period covered by this Report action has been taken
and is continuing in respect of rooms under 7 ft. in height in use for
human habitation.
In view of present unsatisfactory lack of uniformity of procedure
which is largely due to uncertainty arising from the varying
opinions regarding the interpretation of the definition of an underground
room, as well as the different standards to be found in
individual regulations relating to underground rooms, the Metropolitan
Boroughs' Standing Joint Committee has invited the
Town Clerks' Association and the Medical Advisory Body to the
Metropolitan Boroughs' Standing Joint Committee to put forward
suggestions which would lead to a uniform manner of dealing with
underground rooms in London to replace the widely diverse procedures
now adopted by the individual Borough Councils.
Parts of Premises not Repairable at Reasonable Cost.
The Council made a closing order in one case prohibiting the
use of part of one dwelling house which was certified to be unfit
for human habitation.
Common Lodging Houses.
There is only one common lodging house in the Borough, at
124, Camberwell Road, which is licensed for 228 male persons.
During 1937, sixty inspections were made of this lodging house
including one night inspection.
Houses Let in Lodgings.
The number of houses on the register at the close of the year
was 245. The number of inspections of these premises was 112
and 50 notices were served for nuisances and contraventions of
the By-laws.