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45
Insanitary or Unhealthy Areas.
There were 7 or 8 small areas in the Borough which would answer
to the description of unhealthy areas described in Section 35 of the
Housing Act, 1925, i.e., areas in which "the narrowness, closeness
and bad arrangement, or the bad condition of the streets and houses,
or groups of houses within the area, or the want of light, air,
ventilation, or proper conveniences, or any other sanitary defects, or
one or more of such causes, are dangerous or injurious to the health of
the inhabitants either of the buildings in the area or of the neighbouring
buildings."
All these areas have been kept under close supervision, and during
the past five years 3 at least have ceased to exist. The Kilburn YaleArea
has been improving for some years, and it would be difficult toclass
it now as an unhealthy area. Two small areas situated in the
Town Ward, known as Cornick's Yard and Streatley Place, were the
subject of survey and examination under the Housing Acts, and the
4 cottages situated in Cornick's Yard were represented by the
Medical Officer of Health on 9th April, 1923, as being unfit for
human habitation. Closing Orders were made in the same month, and
in May, 1924, a Demolition Order followed. Difficulty was experienced,,
however, in removing all the tenants, but this was eventually accomplished
and the area was cleared. The effect of this was so to open
up the adjoining small area known as Streatley Place that the owner
has since taken it in hand, and Streatley Place is now in a good
sanitary condition.
Dealing with these small areas is a matter of extreme difficulty,
due to the present housing conditions, and I believe, and have urged
upon the Housing Committee, that the best way of dealing with someof
the remaining areas would be for the Borough Council themselves to
purchase the whole of the site and hold it, with the intention of
putting it into a sanitary condition. This might be done by demolishing
certain of the houses comprised in the areas, with the consequence that
the remainder would all benefit and become more sanitary. These
latter could then be put into proper condition. Of course, the
difficulty is to obtain possession or to remove the tenants, and seeing
that these small crowded areas have existed in some cases for hundreds
of years, a few more years would be of no moment. If these small areas
were held by the Council and the houses dealt with as they fell vacant,
or the tenants were gradually removed when alternative accommodation