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 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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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 owners (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 | 95 | 68 |
| New houses provided by the London county council | 320 | 164 |
| New houses provided by public utility societies, etc. | 367 | 221 |
FITNESS OF HOUSES.
Work under Sections 17-20 of the Housing Act, 1930.
The following table gives a statement of the action taken and the results obtained during 1932 :—
| Sections 17 and 18. | |
| No. of notices served in 1931 which were outstanding on 1st January, 1932 | 51 |
| No. of notices served from 1st January to 31st December, 1932 | 148 |
| No. of appeals by owners to the County Court | Nil |
| No. of notices satisfactorily complied with by the owners | 118 |
| No. of cases in which the council carried out the work in default of the owners | 2 |
| No. of notices in respect of which satisfactory progress was being made on 31st December, 1932 | 42 |
| No. of notices in respect of which nothing had been done at the end of the year (the time allowed has not expired in these cases) | 37 |
| No. of cases in which the council's contractors were engaged in executing repairs in default of owners at the end of the year | Nil |
| Total expenditure incurred by the council in executing repairs during the year | £53 |
| No. of unfit houses demolished by the owners during the year | 3 |
| No. of cases in which the council accepted undertakings from the owners that the houses would not be used for human habitation (these houses still remain unoccupied) | 2 |
| No. of cases in which the council accepted undertakings from the owners that the premises would not be used for human habitation until schedules of repairs necessary to render them fit were complied with | 2 |
Although the council have been carrying out section 17 class of work for about ten years,
it has only been during the last three years that certain members of the staff have concentrated
their time wholly upon it.
In those three years the number of notices served has been 510, and the number of houses
which have been brought up to a very satisfactory standard of repair is 505.
From the commencement of the work about ten years ago up to 31st December, 1932, the
council's expenditure in carrying out work in default of owners has been £3,297 10s. Of this total
the amount recovered is £2,937 4s. 3d., and the outstanding amounts with interest are now being
collected. The only loss has been a small one of £2.
It is a matter of interest that there has been no appeal against any notice under section 17 of
the Housing Act, 1930.
Section 17 work involves very close co-operation between the Town Clerk, the Borough
Engineer and myself, and the satisfactory results which have been achieved would not have been
possible had it not been for the advice and help which have been given by these chief officers;
and I would like to express my gratitude for the assistance they have given. The staffs of their
departments have been responsible for a large amount of the work, and all the officers have
performed their duties as one team.