London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
38
MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH OVERCROWDING AND INDECENT OCCUPATION.
When a sanitary inspector discovers a case of illegal overcrowding in any house, or a case of
indecent occupation (persons of the opposite sexes over twelve years of age, not living together as
man and wife, occupying the same bedroom) in a house let in lodgings, an intimation notice is
served and the facts are reported to the next meeting of the public health committee.
The following table shows the number of cases of overcrowding and indecent occupation detected in the last six years and the effectiveness of the action taken can be deduced therefrom.
| 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overcrowding:— | ||||||
| Intimation notices served | 103 | 88 | 72 | 33 | 25 | 42 |
| Statutory notices served where the intimation notice was not complied with | 38 | 28 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 7 |
| Summonses issued | 6 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Indecent Occupation:— | ||||||
| Intimation notices served | 79 | 92 | 84 | 23 | 27 | 16 |
| Statutory notices served where the intimation notice was not complied with | 12 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Summonses issued | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | - |
As only 29 summonses were eventually issued in 363 cases of overcrowding, and only two
summonses in regard to 321 cases of indecent occupation in the six years, it will be seen that
653 families were able to improve their accommodation without the council having to resort to
extreme measures. Moreover, the figures for 1931 suggest that those on whom notices were
served had less difficulty in securing alternative accommodation than was experienced in previous
years.
With a view to securing the greatest possible advantage from new houses provided by the
borough council, the London county council and housing associations working in Kensington,
arrangements were made in 1925 for those persons managing the new houses to notify the medical
officer of health immediately of the name and address of each tenant selected for a new home.
The information has enabled the officers of the public health department to know several weeks
in advance of rooms which will become vacant, with the result that they have been able to
approach the persons in control (frequently before they were aware that vacancies would arise
in the near future) and urge that the rooms might be let to Kensington families known to the
public health department to be living under overcrowded or unsatisfactory conditions.
The results have been as follows:—
| No. of houses let and notified to M.O.H. in advance of occupation. | No. of instances in which rooms vacated have been let to Kensington families living under unsatisfactory or overcrowded conditions. | |
|---|---|---|
| New houses provided by the borough council | 84 | 59 |
| New houses provided by the London county council | 267 | 138 |
| New houses provided by public utility societies, etc | 351 | 210 |
FITNESS OF HOUSES.
Work under Section 17 of the Housing Act, 1930.The following table gives a statement of the action taken and the results obtained during 1931:—
| Notices served in 1930 which were outstanding on 1st January, 1931 | 75 |
| Notices served from 1st January to 31st December, 1931 | 174 |
| Appeals by owners to the County Court | Nil |
| Notices satisfactorily complied with by owners | 195 |
| Cases in which the council carried out the repairs in default of owners | 1 |
| Notices in respect of which satisfactory progress was being made on 31st December, 1931 | 28 |