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Of the 474 families scheduled for displacement from the improvement areas by the defective
houses sub-committee 141 were living in rooms above basement level. In addition, three extra
cases of overcrowding were discovered by the housing inspectors. By the end of the year, 135 of
these cases had been dealt with as follows :—
Families. Persons.
Total number of overcrowding cases 144 1,001
No. rehoused 135 942
No. of cases outstanding at the end of the year 9 59
(а) No. rehoused by the council and allied associations 74 520
(б) No. rehoused inside the improvement area as a result of action
by the housing inspectors 44 316
(c) No. moved to other parts of Kensington as a result of action by
the housing inspectors 11 65
(d) No. moved out of the borough as a result of action by the housing
inspectors 0 41
135 942
Note :—Of the nine outstanding cases of overcrowding, six were in hand by the housing
managers; legal proceedings had been taken in two cases and in one case legal proceedings
were pending.
No. of notices served by the inspectors upon owners and tenants in respect of
overcrowding 133
Statistics showing the reduction of population effected in the Southam Street improvement
area :—
Persons found to be in the area in the 1933-34 survey 5,818
Persons actually moved out of the area :—
(а) Rehoused by the council and allied associations 1,309
(б) Moved away voluntarily 493
1,802
Deduct.
Persons known to have moved INTO the area 109
1,693
Estimated number of persons now in the area 4,125
The above figures show a reduction in population since the beginning of 1934 of 29 per cent.
Removal of tenants and disinfestation of furniture.
In every case where a family was offered better accommodation, the council undertook free of
charge, the removal of the furniture which was disinfested during the process of removal. Details of
this service will be found on page 61 of this report.
Reconditioning and Repair Work.
When it was seen in November that there was a prospect of securing the vacation of all unfit
basements and overcrowded rooms by the end of the year, the public health committee considered
the steps to be taken to obtain reasonably habitable conditions for the 4,125 persons remaining in
the area. Only four houses were found to be so bad as not to be repairable at reasonable cost;
demolition orders were made, the houses have been vacated, and it is anticipated that they will be
pulled down shortly. It was concluded that satisfactory conditions could be secured in the
remaining 406 houses by the application of section 17 of the Housing Act, 1930, and the special
improvement area by-laws which came into operation during the year. One of these by-laws in
particular required careful consideration. It provides that every owner of a house shall provide and
maintain :—
(a) water-closet accommodation ;
(b) a supply of water for domestic use ;
(c) accommodation for washing clothes ;
(d) accommodation for the storage of food ;
(e) accommodation for the preparation and cooking of food ;
for every part of the house which is occupied as a separate dwelling, adequate for the use of and
readily accessible to each family occupying such part.
Water-closet Accommodation.
Hitherto the council had enforced throughout the borough one water-closet for every
12 persons.
With two exceptions, every house in the area complied with this by-law, and the vast
majority of the houses had at least two water-closets. In 138 of the 410 houses the waterclosets
were in the back yard. In 164 there was a water-closet in the back yard and one on the
ground floor, and in 74 there was a water-closet in the back yard and one on the first floor.
As these houses have a basement and three floors above them, the public health committee
were satisfied that such accommodation could not in every case be regarded as " readily
accessible " to the tenants ; and it was decided to adopt the rule that in houses let to more
than one family at least one water-closet above the basement level should be required, in
addition to the one or two in the back yard. The position to be selected for this additional
water-closet was left to the discretion of officers of the public health department in