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(h) The council approved a scheme whereby the Church Army should erect 24 maisonettes on
the site of the Silvester Mews clearance area. These were completed during 1937.
All the property referred to above is for the purpose of accommodating working class families.
The various property managers concerned work in close co-operation with the borough council's
officers in the task of rehousing families from condemned houses, unfit basements and overcrowded
homes.
This very large amount of housing accommodation, totalling approximately 1,900 houses or
flats in North Kensington, under the control of enlightened management, is a very important factor
in the considerable improvement which has taken place in the housing conditions of Kensington.
Housing Statistics.
The Minister of Health each year requires that certain information shall be given in this annual
report, and the following are the particulars required by him for 1937 and set out in circular 1650 :—
1. Inspection of dwelling houses during the year :—
(i) (a) Total number of dwelling-houses inspected for housing defects (under
Public Health or Housing Acts) 4,772
(b) Number of inspections made for the purpose 19,956
(ii) (a) Number of dwelling-houses (included under sub-head (i) above)
which were inspected and recorded under the Housing Consolidated
Regulations, 1925 857
(b) Number of inspections made for the purpose 5,533
(iii) Number of dwelling-houses found to be in a state so dangerous or
injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation 18
(iv) Number of dwelling-houses (exclusive of those referred to under the
preceding sub-head) found not to be in all respects reasonably fit for
human habitation 1,431
2. Remedy of defects during the year without service of formal notices :—
Number of defective dwelling-houses rendered fit in consequence of
informal action by the local authority or their officers 1,086
3. Action under statutory powers during the year :—
(a) Proceedings under sections 9, 10 and 16 of the Housing Act, 1936 :—
(i) Number of dwelling-houses in respect of which notices were served
requiring repairs 177
(ii) Number of dwelling-houses which were rendered fit after service
of formal notices
(a) By owners 136
(b) By local authority in default of owners 11
(b) Proceedings under Public Health Acts—
(i) Number of dwelling-houses in respect of which notices were served
requiring defects to be remedied 1,254
(ii) Number of dwelling-houses in which defects were remedied after
service of formal notices—
(a) By owners 1,254
('b) By local authority in default of owners Nil
(e) Proceedings under sections 11 and 13 of the Housing Act, 1936 :—
(i) Number of dwelling-houses in respect of which demolition orders
were made Nil
(ii) Number of dwelling-houses demolished in pursuance of demolition
orders Nil
(d) Proceedings under section 12 of the Housing Act, 1936—
(i) Number of separate tenements or underground rooms in respect of 202
which closing orders were made ... ... ... ... ... (384 rooms)
(ii) Number of separate tenements or underground rooms in respect
of which closing orders were determined, the tenements or rooms 32
having been rendered fit (51 rooms)
4. Housing Act, 1936, Part IV—Overcrowding :—
(a) (i) Number of dwellings overcrowded at the end of the year ... ... 2,034
(ii) Number of families dwelling therein 2,034
(iii) Number of " equivalent " persons dwelling therein 9,234
(b) (i) Number of new cases of overcrowding reported during the year 56
(ii) Number of " equivalent " persons concerned in such cases 239J
(c) (i) Number of cases of overcrowding relieved during the year 450
(ii) Number of " equivalent " persons concerned in such cases 2,256£
(d) Number of cases in which dwelling-houses have again become
crowded after the local authority have taken steps for the
abatement of overcrowding Nil
Note.—In obtaining the " number of equivalent persons " children between the ages of one
and ten years are counted as " half-persons." Infants under one year of age are not counted.