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sanitary inspectors who try and secure abatement by persuasion.
Eighty-five new cases were dealt with in 1952 by the
Special Sub-Committee as follows ;-
(a) Recommended for alternative accommodation
by the Council 52
(b) Proceedings ordered to be taken without
prior offer of alternative accommodation 7
(c) Action postponed 26
The total number of cases of overcrowding abated during
the year was sixty-eight and, in additions, sixty-three
Category 4 cases were also abated during the year.
Since the war, the Special Sub-Committee have dealt
with nine hundred and twenty-seven cases of overcrowding under
Categories 1,2 and 3, and no few than six hundred and
ninety-five of these have been abated.
Assessment of Housing Priorities on Medical Grounds
During the year two hundred and thirteen applications
for re-housing on medical grounds were examined, and
recommendations for the award of additional points were made
to the Chief Housing Officer. In each case the precise
medical condition and resultant disability were determined
(frequently necessitating communication with the family
doctor or with the hospital attended,, ) The premises were
inspected in detail to ascertain the extent and nature of the
existing accommodation ; the adequacy of day and sleeping
space; the risk of infection; the existence of remediable or
irremediable sanitary or structural defects, and the existence
of inconveniences, such as stairs which might be prejudicial
to the patient.
On this information and that supplied by the Chief
Housing Officer, an assessment of points to be awarded on
medical grounds was made.
In a large number of cases, recommendations for re-housing
on medical grounds were also made to the London County Council.
Hostels
In the past two or three years, consideration has been
given to the question of the increasing number of hostels
provided in the Borough for students or persons without homes
of their own or whose places of employment are far removed
from their usual place of residence. Whilst the accommodation
provided differs widely, these hostels are generally
satisfactory, but in a few privately owned hostels the
conditions left much to be desired.
Accordingly, with the consent of the Minister of Housing
and Local Government, the Council have made special byelaws
under the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, to enable them to
control and supervise hostel accommodation. These deal with
such matters as:-