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During the year, the Sanitary Inspectors served Intimation Notices for overcrowding in every
case where a house let in lodgings, whether registered or not, did not provide each person with
300 cubic feet of air space in every room used for sleeping purposes only or 400 cubic feet in every
room used tor both sleeping and living purposes (in the case of a child under ten years of age the
figures are 150 and 200 cubic feet respectively).
In addition, the Inspectors served Notices where members of the two sexes over twelve years
of age occupied one sleeping room in a registered tenement house, except where they were living
together as man and wife. The Notices served by the Inspectors were reported fortnightly to the
Public Health Committee who authorised the issue of Statutory Notices and Summonses in cases
where the Intimation Notices had not been complied with. This policy has had the effect of making
many people find more satisfactory accommodation either in or outside the Borough.

The most difficult cases of overcrowding to deal with are those in which there is a large family
of young children whose parents are out of work or are able to earn only small wages. Although
these families are often overcrowded in basement rooms, they cannot afford better or larger accommodation
than they now occupy. Towards the end of the year, the Public Health Committee
were apprehensive lest their policy might create hardship in such cases and they gave instructions
that the service of Intimation Notices should proceed as in the past, but that no Statutory Notice
should be served or Summons issued until the full facts had been placed before them and until
there had been a conference between the Town Clerk and myself in order to ascertain whether the
Council could provide suitable accommodation As only ten Summonses were eventually issued
during 1925 in 75 cases of overcrowding and 40 cases of indecent occupation discovered, it will be
seen that 105 families were able to find better accommodation without the Council having to resort
to extreme measures.
At the commencement of the year another step was adopted for the purpose of relieving cases
of overcrowding. The Public Health and Special Housing Committees arranged that immediately
new houses provided by the Council had been let, the Town Clerk should supply me with information
as to the name and address of the future tenant. This information has enabled officers of the
Public Health Department to know several weeks in advance of rooms which would become vacant,
with the result that they have been able to approach the owners of these rooms and urge that they
might be let to Kensington families known to be living under overcrowded conditions. The results
have been as follow :—
Number of Council's Houses let by Town Clerk during the year and reported to the
Medical Officer of Health 33
Number of instances in which the rooms vacated by the 33 tenants have been let to
Kensington families whose previous accommodation was unsatisfactory or
overcrowded 24
During the year, the Housing Department of the London County Council commenced to send
me information of all Kensington persons accepted as tenants for County Council houses in order
that a similar procedure could be adopted in regard to rooms vacated by tenants leaving the Borough
for such houses.
IV. A REVIEW OF THE GENERAL FITNESS OF HOUSING ACCOMMODATION IN THE
BOROUGH.
Throughout the Borough, the streets are almost invariably wide. The areas behind the rows
of houses are usually ample, with the result that there is a satisfactory circulation of fresh air.
The houses generally are well-constructed.
There is no area in the Borough which can be classed as a slum and in regard to which the
Council could put into operation Slum Clearance powers.
The fitness of houses in South Kensington may be generally regarded as high, and the same may
be said of those houses occupied by the upper and middle classes in North Kensington.