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 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The rents of these flats range from 6s. to 15s. per week and, at the time of writing this
report, all are occupied. The total cost of the scheme was £301,136.
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 1930 :—
| Single family houses. | Self contained flats. | Tenement houses let in lodgings. | Totals. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of houses or flats | No. of families. | No. of persons. | ||||
| Owned before the War | — | 120 | — | 120 | 120 | 540 |
| Provided from 1914 to end of 1929 | 54 | 359 | 414 | 417 | 2,120 | |
| Provided during 1930 | — | 24 | 24 | 24 | 100 | |
| Owned before 1930 | 3 | 40 | 71 | 114 | 235 | 1,250 |
| Provided during 1930 | — | 42 | 1 | 43 | 44 | 182 |
| Owned before 1930 | 131 | 50 | 50 | 231 | 369 | 1,829 |
| Acquired during 1930 | — | — | 2 | 2 | 7 | 22 |
| Owned before 1930 | 48 | 16 | 100 | 164 | 450 | 2,250 |
| Acquired during 1930 | — | — | 26 | 26 | 202 | 435 |
| Completed during 1930 | — | 540 | — | 540 | 540 | 2,900 |
| Owned before 1930 | 2 | 9 | 34 | 45 | 120 | 429 |
| Acquired during 1930 | 2 | — | — | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Totals | 240 | 1,200 | 285 | 1,725 | 2,530 | 12,073 |
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.
HOUSING ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED OUTSIDE THE BOROUGH
FOR KENSINGTON FAMILIES.
The Borough Council have made special arrangements with the London County Council by
which ninety-nine Kensington families have been placed in new housing accommodation on the
County Council's Wormholt estate adjacent to North Kensington, and have agreed to pay the
sum of £7 per house per annum for a period of twenty years in respect of this accommodation.
It may be mentioned further that the London County Council, in connection with their large housing estates, allocate fifty per cent. of the accommodation to applicants nominated by the Borough Councils and reserve the remaining fifty per cent. for applicants on their own general list. The following table shows the number of Kensington families accommodated on the London Countv Council housing estates up to December, 1930.
| Families nominated by the Borough Council | 264 |
| Families selected by the London County Council | 533 |
| Families accommodated as special hardship cases | 17 |
| Total | 814 |
In the 814 families leaving Kensington, there were 4,620 persons.
In 1929, Miss R. F. Alexander, who had secured an interest in the Peabody Buildings which
have been erected on the Cleverly estate at Hammersmith, obtained accommodation in these
buildings for twenty-eight Kensington families.