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Slum Clearance.
Following the first world war, the condition of unsatisfactory
houses, in many cases constituting slums, began to be realised
by the Government, and legislation was introduced to do away
with them and to rehouse the residents in healthier conditions.
As a result, in 1922 various unhealthy areas were inspected
by the Medical Officer of Health. Five of these areas were
represented to the Council who submitted a scheme to the
Minister of Health which embraced those areas and they were
the subject of a local enquiry by the Ministry of Health in 1923.
All the areas were condemned as unfit for human habitation,
viz.:—
Woodland Cottages 10 houses
Tiger Yard 17 houses
Joiner's Arms Yard 6 houses
*Mayhew's Buildings 14 houses
Levant Street Island site 18 houses
Total 65 houses occupied by 341 working-class
— persons.
* Subsequently included in the Wyndham Road Area Improvement
Scheme.
The Minister refused to pass the schemes as drafted and stipulated
that alternative accommodation should be provided in
new buildings for the persons to be displaced. Unfortunately,
the areas in question were quite unsuitable for the erection of new
dwelling houses. Eventually, those families who were living in
these areas were rehoused under an arrangement which was
entered into with the London County Council whereby this
Council agreed to pay a fixed annual sum for forty years in
respect of every dwelling which the London County Council
provided to rehouse persons displaced as the result of slum
clearance operations by this Council.
In 1924, the London County Council decided, following a
request by the Camberwell Borough Council, to effect an improvement
scheme in the Wyndham Road Area under Part I of the
Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890.
In the past, difficulty had been experienced in dealing with
insanitary areas owing to the impossibility of providing suitable
alternative accommodation for the persons who would be displaced.
To overcome this difficulty, the London County Council
in their scheme provided for the acquisition of an additional four
acres of adjacent lands and premises. The total number of
acres of the site to be cleared for rehousing purposes was thus
increased to seven.
The following table shows the number of houses in the insanitary
areas represented by me to the London County Council,
the number of families and persons living in the houses in these