London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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53
During the year, the Trust acquired the freehold interest of a block of properties in the Kensal
Road district. Some of these properties are held on leases which will not expire for some time,
but the Trust can secure the possession of four houses and three cottages which will enable them
to clear an area of about a quarter of an acre on which it is proposed to erect a block of twentyone
flats, together with a shop for a disabled ex-Service man who is living on the site. Two vacant
plots of land in Silchester Road have been purchased and plans are being completed for the erection
of a block of flats on each site.
The Trust now house 257 families, comprising 1,280 persons, and their total expenditure
has reached £48,500, of which £34,709 was incurred in 1929.
(B) Prior to 1929, the Wilsham Trust Company owned 222 houses and flats; during the
year, they purchased seven single family houses, one tenement house and one flat, thus the total
number of premises owned by this association at the end of the year under review was 231.
(C) The Improved Tenements Association, on the 1st January, 1929, owned the following :—
| Freehold houses | 100 |
| Leasehold houses | 38 |
| Freehold ground rents | 32 |
| Total | 170 |
During the year, the association acquired the freeholds of sixteen houses, the leaseholds of
thirteen and the freehold ground rents of seven others.
(D) One or two small associations, closely associated in regard to management with the
Wilsham Trust Company, own thirty-six houses and nine flats.
The following table shows the housing accommodation(freehold and leasehold) in North Kensington owned and managed by the Kensington Borough Council and voluntary housing associations at the end of 1929:—
| Single family houses. | Self-contained flats. | Tenement houses let in lodgings. | Totals. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of hou-ses or flats | No. of families. | No. of persons. | ||||
| Owned before 1929 | 54 | 490 | — | 544 | 544 | 2,660 |
| Acquired during 1929 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Owned before 1929 | — | 4 | 49 | 53 | 187 | 935 |
| Acquired during 1929 | 3 | 36 | 22 | 61 | 70 | 345 |
| Owned before 1929 | 124 | 49 | 49 | 222 | 358 | 1,785 |
| Acquired during 1929 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 44 |
| Owned before 1929 | 42 | 16 | 80 | 138 | 369 | 1,845 |
| Acquired during 1929 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 81 | 405 | |
| Owned before 1929 | 2 | 9 | 33 | 44 | 115 | 411 |
| Acquired during 1929 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18 |
| Totals | 238 | 605 | 254 | 1,097 | 1,740 | 8,448 |
The Council's properties in Kenley Street, Hesketh Place, Runcorn Place, Sirdar Road, St.
James' Place and Bosworth Road, and those owned by the Kensington Housing Trust, the Wilsham
Trust Company, and the Improved Tenements Association, are managed by a group of women
house property managers working under the direction of Miss Dicken. These ladies manage these
properties on the "Octavia Hill" system and have given considerable assistance to the Council
in dealing with cases of overcrowding and indecent occupation.