View report page

55
interests and associations. Owing to the extreme difficulty of finding
alternative accommodation it has not been found practicable to deal
with more than a proportion of the cases of overcrowding during the
year. Whenever possible, arrangements are made with the London
County Council for the provision of a house for the overcrowded
family. Twenty-eight such families obtained accommodation on
the Council's Estates during the year. Further, when vacant tenements
become available in the Borough Council's dwellings preferential treatment
is as far as possible given to cases of overcrowding. With a view to
preventing a recurrence of overcrowding in premises which are being
vacated because of their overcrowded condition, a cautionary letter is
always sent to the landlord concerned, warning him that action will be
taken against him in the event of a recurrence of overcrowded conditions
in the premises.
Fitness of Houses.—The general standard of housing in the Borough
is satisfactory. There has been a very definite improvement in housing
conditions during the past nine years. The vast majority of houses have
an adequate internal water supply and adequate sanitary accommodation
within their own curtilage. The constant vigilance of the Sanitary
Inspectors has impressed upon both owners and tenants their determination
that every dwelling house shall be maintained in a reasonable state
of repair and that there shall be systematic observance of cleanliness.
While the great majority of these houses are structurally sound, a
number of them are old, worn out and below the modern standards of
sanitation and convenience. It is probable that only a minority of the
tenants would be able to pay economic rents for alternative accommodation,
having regard to the rents that require to be fixed for new
dwellings, owing to the greatly increased cost of land and construction
during recent years.
Another problem is caused by certain old people, usually women.
Many of these live alone in a single room with no one to look after them.
Frequently they rely almost entirely on the Old Age Pension for sustenance.
Gradually growing feebler with the passage of time, they
eventually become unable properly to care for themselves or their homes.
Although every means of persuasion is tried, these cases usually decline
to enter a Poor Law Institution and the condition often persists for a
lengthened period. Fortunately, this problem has now been met by
legislation. Under the London County Council (General Powers) Act,
1928, it is possible to arrange for the removal of such cases to a suitable
institution.
While in the majority of instances the defects found to exist in unfit
houses are due to the lack of proper management and supervision by
owners, from time to time complaints are made by the owners regarding
the difficulties they experience in keeping their property in a reasonable
state of repair because of the dirty and destructive habits of a number
of their tenants. It is alleged that, through carelessness or wilful damage
by tenants, repairs and cleansing have to be carried out with unreasonable
frequency and that, as a consequence, it is impossible to maintain even
the minimum requirements of the Local Authority without incurring
financial loss.