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Of the above, 120 houses and flats were built by the Council prior to the War; the remainder
have been built or acquired since the War. The total expenditure by the Council in the provision
of the above accommodation has amounted to £371,445.
No property was actually purchased by the Council during 1929, but two schemes received
their approval, particulars of which are set out hereunder:—
(a) Over twenty years ago, the Council acquired the freehold interest of Nos. 10 to 24
(even numbers), Hesketh Place, and the site of certain properties at the rear of Runcorn
Place; and those leases which had not already expired were surrendered early in 1929. The
Council thereupon approved a scheme for the erection upon the site of a block of eighteen
flats, each containing a living room, three bedrooms, scullery with bathroom and W.C., and
six flats, each containing a living room, two bedrooms, scullery with bathroom and W.C.
Each tenant will have the use of the common washhouse on a portion of the roof of the building
and also the use of the common drying ground on the remaining portion of the roof. The
estimated cost of this scheme is £14,100 and, at the time of writing, the work is well
advanced.
(b) In December, 1929, the Public Health Committee recommended the Council to buy
Nos. 1, 3 and 5, Adair Road and Nos. 86, 88 and 90, Southam Street. The purchase took
place in the early days of 1930. The houses are old, they have been subjected to rough
usage and are in a very dilapidated state. The Council have not yet decided what they will
do in regard to this property.
Accommodation provided by Housing Associations.—There are at work within the borough
several voluntary housing associations which are carrying out good work. The principal objects of
these bodies are—
(a) the provision of new dwellings at reasonable rents,
(b) the purchase and re-conditioning of defective houses,
(c) the awakening of public opinion in regard to unsatisfactory housing conditions.
(A) The Kensington Housing Trust, of which Lord Balfour of Burleigh(Chairman of the
Council's Public Health Committee) is Chairman, had, prior to 1929, purchased the following
properties:—
(a) Wornington Road area(48 houses—leasehold),
(b) Thresher's Place (2 flats—freehold),
(c) Walmer Road(1 house—leasehold),
(d) Talbot Grove area(18 houses—leasehold),
(e) Barandon Street(2 houses—leasehold).
During the year 1929, the Trust increased their activities. In Mary Place, Notting Hill,
they erected Crosfield House, a large building containing thirty-six flats and maisonettes. The
rents charged to tenants of these flats are low, thus the Trust have been able to provide
accommodation for a number of families unable to pay the rents charged by other bodies. Crosfield
House provides accommodation for nine families displaced by the clearance of the site, nine
families transferred from basements, seven families which had previously been living in one room
each; the remaining eleven families accommodated at Crosfield House were selected from the
worst-housed of the many applicants who had applied to the Trust for accommodation. The
first tenants moved into Crosfield House in June, 1929, and the building was formally opened
by H.R.H. The Duchess of York in July.