View report page

41
Use of closed basement rooms.
The council have control over the use of closed basement rooms and have sanctioned their
use in 34 cases for the following purposes :—
Storage of surplus furniture 12
Temporary storage of builder's materials 8
Storage of empty boxes, etc., in shop premises 11
Washing and drying of clothes 3
In some of the houses owned by the Improved Tenements Association the basement floors have
been concreted and the rooms converted into bathrooms.
In 39 houses, the basement rooms have, at considerable expense, been made fit for habitation
and the closing orders have been determined.
Maintenance of the standard attained.
The Housing Act, 1930, contemplated that, when once the improvement had been brought about,
the area should receive constant and rigid supervision in order to maintain the high standard achieved.
Therefore, as soon as reconditioning of a house was completed, it was placed upon a list to be visited
regularly by an inspector detailed for the purpose. This supervision has a two-fold object, namely,
(a) to maintain the improved housing conditions, and (b) to assist the owner in keeping his house in
such a state that he can expect some return for the considerable outlay he has been called upon to
make.
(2) Crescent Street Improvement Area.—This area consisting of 129 premises with a population
of 1,782 persons was declared to be an improvement area in April, 1934. The by-laws for the abatement
of overcrowding and the improvement of the houses were confirmed by the Minister of Health
in June, 1934. During 1935 the council closed 193 unfit basement rooms in this area for living and
sleeping purposes, and displaced therefrom 82 families comprising 299 persons. In addition there were
65 families of 349 persons living under overcrowded conditions in rooms above basement level.
All these 147 families have been satisfactorily rehoused with one or two exceptions, and all the unfit
closed basements are now unoccupied.
Reconditioning of the houses should have been undertaken in 1936, but the council, in conjunction
with a housing association, are considering whether this area can be entirely redeveloped.
(3) Treverton Street Improvement Area.—This area was declared to be an improvement area
in May, 1935. Considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining by-laws necessary to secure
improvements in this area, similar to those in force in the Southam Street and Crescent Street
improvement areas.
After negotiations between the Ministry of Health, the county council and the borough council,
special new by-laws were made under the Housing Act, 1935, and were confirmed by the Minister
on the 22nd July last. They are almost identical to those which apply in the two previous improvement
areas, with the exception that the overcrowding standard of 450 cubic feet per person is replaced
by the new national standard laid down in the 1935 Act. The by-laws came into operation on the
1st August, 1936, and the council have practically the same powers to deal with the Treverton Street
area as they have in their other improvement areas.
The first steps to be taken were the closure of unfit basement dwellings, the rehousing of persons
so displaced, and the elimination of overcrowding. In 1936 the council dealt with the unfit basement
dwellings in this area, and during the year closing orders were made in respect of 183 basement rooms ;
in addition, the council accepted undertakings from owners to make 42 basement rooms fit for habitation.
Including both overcrowded families and occupiers of closed basement rooms, there were 227
families (1,025 persons) scheduled for rehousing.
The new flats to accommodate the displaced families were provided at Dalgarno Gardens by
the Peabody Donation Fund, but they were not completed until December with the result that very
few families were rehoused from the area in 1936.
As it is not desirable to undertake reconditioning of the premises until the overcrowding has been
abated, the former task was not commenced until the last month of the year when notices were served
under section 17 of the Housing Act, 1930, in respect of eleven premises.
At the time of writing (April, 1937) rehousing and reconditioning are proceeding rapidly.
Individual Unfit Houses Not Repairable At Reasonable Cost.
Section 19—Housing Act, 1930 (now Section 11—Housing Act, 1936).
No houses were dealt with under this heading during the year. In the previous year, however,
demolition orders were made in respect of two premises, but the owners appealed to the County Court
The hearing was adjourned with a view to the owners arranging for the houses to be reconditioned
At the end of 1936 the two houses (with the exception of the basements) had been repaired and made
fit for habitation.
Individual Unfit Parts of Houses Not Repairable At Reasonable Cost.
Section 20—Housing Act, 1930 (now Section 12—Housing Act, 1936).
In addition to the action taken in closing unfit parts of houses (basements) in improvement areas,
207 parts of houses, mostly underground rooms in basements, were represented as unfit and not
repairable at reasonable cost. (Of these, 11 were special South Kensington cases arising out of
town planning applications.)