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60
The following figures show the number of houses let in furnished rooms in the different parts
of the Borough.
Norland Ward 63
St. Charles Ward 4
Pembridge Ward 12
Golborne Ward 16
Other Wards 0
95
IMPROVEMENT OF EXISTING HOUSING ACCOMMODATION.
During the year 1922 very active measures were taken by the staff of the Public Health
Department with a view to securing remedies for the many housing defects which had arisen as a
result of the unavoidable curtailment of repair work in the years of the War.
The steps taken were very successful and many houses were reclaimed from their almost
uninhabitable condition.
The ten Inspectors visited 6,975 houses, and of these 234 were subjected to a detailed survey
under the Housing (Inspection of District) Regulations, 1910.
Two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-one of the houses visited were found not to be in all
respects reasonably fit for human habitation. In many cases the defects were of a simple nature
and easily remedied, but in an unusually large number the repair works required were extensive
in character.
In 118 cases the necessary repairs were carried out without the issue of notices, but in 2,845
notices under the Public Health Acts were served. Some indication of the successful results of
the Inspectors' efforts, supported as they were by the Public Health Committee and the Council,
may be gathered from the fact that in no fewer than 2,797 houses the defects found were remedied
during the year or in the early part of 1923.
It is true that this report shows that it was found necessary to issue 75 summonses in respect
of non-compliance with the Council's notices, but it should be pointed out that no fewer than 48
were in connection with certain houses in Bolton Road, in regard to which the Council have had,
and are still experiencing, difficulty in securing habitable conditions.
An indication of the improvements effected may be gathered from the following short extract
taken from the returns of work submitted by the Inspectors:—
No. of water closets reconstructed or repaired 625
No. of new water closets provided 48
No. of cisterns cleaned or covered 266
No. of yards and areas paved or repaired 306
No. of new dustbins provided 662
No. of old ashpits abolished 110
No. of roofs repaired 639
No. of houses provided with water above the basement floor 53
No. of dwellings in which dampness was remedied 244
No. of houses let in lodgings cleansed, under the Council's By-laws 578
Section 28 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919, has not been applied extensively
by the Council, but since this Section came into operation, notices have been served under it in
80 cases. In 30 of these the notices have been fully complied with ; and at the time of writing
(June, 1923) the work is nearing completion in 3 cases, and has been partially carried out by the
owners in 7 cases. In 2 cases of default by the owner the necessary repairs have been undertaken
by the Council, who are now recovering their expenses from the rentals received from the repaired
properties. In several cases the work is about to be carried out by the Council, and in others, the
notices were not served until a few weeks ago.
In certain cases there has been total failure to comply with the notices on the part of the
Owner, but owing to technical difficulties in connection with these, it has been thought wise to
have recourse to the Public Health (London) Act and the By-laws thereunder to secure the
execution of the works originally embodied in the Section 28 notices.
HOUSING STATISTICS FOR 1922 (MINISTRY OF HEALTH TABLE).
1. Estimated population 179,100
2. General death-rate 13.6
3. Death-rate from tuberculosis 0.95
4. Infantile mortality rate 82
5. No. of dwelling houses of all classes:—
(a) Separately occupied tenements in the Borough according to the
Census of 1921. (This number represents families or households
separately occupying their own rooms in 1921) 43,001