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(2) Number of separate tenements or underground rooms in respect of which
closing orders were determined, the tenement or room having been
rendered fit Nil
(3) Number of separate tenements in respect of which undertakings were given
that the premises would be rendered fit for human habitation 3 (6 rooms)
Inside Improvement Areas.
E.—Proceedings under sections 19 and 20 of the Housing Act, 1930, together with
section 70 of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1933 :—
(1) Number of dwelling-houses in respect of which demolition orders were made Nil
(2) Number of dwelling-houses demolished in pursuance of demolition orders 4
(3) Number of separate tenements or underground rooms in respect of which
closing orders were made Nil
(4) Number of separate tenements or underground rooms in respect of which
closing orders were determined, the tenement or room having been 30
rendered fit (59 rooms)
Overcrowding Survey.
Under the Housing Act, 1935, a dwelling house is deemed to be overcrowded when the number
of persons sleeping in the house either :—
(a) is such that any two of those persons, being ten years old or more, of opposite sexes and not
being persons living together as husband and wife, must sleep in the same room ; or
(b) is, in relation to the number and floor area of the rooms in the house, in excess of the
permitted number of persons as defined in the first schedule of the Act.
A child under one year is not counted, and a child between the ages of one and ten years is
regarded as half a unit.
The following is the schedule referred to under heading (b) :—
The expression " the permitted number of persons" means, in relation to any
dwelling-house, either—
(a) the number specified in the second column of Table I in the annex hereto in relation
to a house consisting of the number of rooms of which that house consists ; or,
(b)the aggregate for all the rooms in the house obtained by reckoning, for each room
therein of the floor area specified in the first column of Table II in the annex hereto,
the number specified in the second column of that table in relation to that area,
whichever is the less—
provided that in computing for the purposes of the said Table I the number of rooms in
a house, no regard shall be had to any room having a floor area of less than 50 square feet.
Table I.
Where a house consists of :—
(a) one room 2
(b) two rooms 3
(c) three rooms 5
(d) four rooms 7½
(e) five rooms 10—with an additional two in respect of each room in excess
of five.
Table II.
Where the floor area of a room is :—
(a) 110 sq. ft. or more 2
(b) 90 sq. ft. or more, but less than 110 sq. ft 1½
(c) 70 sq. ft. or more, but less than 90 sq. ft.1
(d) 50 sq. ft. or more, but less than 70 sq. ft. ½
(e) under 50 sq. ft. Nil
This standard replaces that hitherto in application under by-laws for houses let in lodgings,
and, furthermore, it applies to every house occupied by the working-classes ; but it does not apply
in any borough until the " appointed day " has been fixed by the Minister, and in the interval the
old standards remain in operation.
Overcrowding which exists on the " appointed day " cannot be dealt with unless the council
have offered the family alternative accommodation, but overcrowding arising for the first time
after the " appointed day " becomes a penal offence.
With a view to enabling the Minister to know the extent of overcrowding in the country, and
to supply information for the use of local authorities in regard to the problem before them, section 1
of the Act requires every local authority to carry out an inspection of their district and to report
the result to the Minister, together with their proposals for providing new accommodation to abate
the overcrowding. In London the authority to carry out the inspection is each metropolitan
borough council, but the London county council is the authority to report the results found for the
entire administrative county and to submit comprehensive proposals for the provision of new
homes.
The survey in Kensington was completed by the end of the year, and indeed it was the first in
London to be finished. The results are shown in the table opposite :—