London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington and Chelsea 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington & Chelsea Borough]
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- 79 -
Houses in Multiple Occupation.
The legislative powers for dealing with bad living conditions in
houses let in lodgings or occupied by members of more than one family
were described in my annual report for 1965. The implementation of
these powers, commenced in 1963, was continued in 1966 within the area
bounded by Acklam Road, Portobello Road, Womington Road and St. Ervans
Road.
The original area contained 1,463 houses, but inspections have now
extended south of the Metropolitan Railway and into the Pembridge ward,
so that the total number of houses involved is now 1,900. The
procedure and some of the difficulties and problems encountered were
mentioned in last year's annual report.
Briefly, the Council's policy is to secure the repair and the
provision of basic amenities - hot and cold water, gas and electricity
supplies; washing, bathing and sanitary accommodation; facilities for
the storage, preparation and cooking of food; the cleanliness and
repair of parts used in common; fire precautions and avoidance of
over-crowding and over-occupation.
The Council's minimum requirements in these matters were given in
detail in my annual report for the Royal Borough of Kensington for
1962.
The following table summarises the action taken in 1966 and the total results since the operation commenced in 19635:-
| 1966 | 1965 | 1964 | 1963 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses inspected | 238 | 143 | 355 | 296 | 1,032 |
| Re-inspection s | 5,608 | 5,451 | 4,540 | 2,086 | 17,726 |
| No action required | 38 | 27 | 15 | 27 | 107 |
| Management Orders made | 25 | 19 | 32 | 27 | 103 |
| Notices served - | |||||
| Section 9 - Housing Act 1957 | 174 | 82 | 346 | 105 | 707 |
| Section 14 - Housing Act 1961 | 29 | 12 | 30 | - | 71 |
| Section 15 - Housing Act 1961 | 180 | 75 | 355 | 117 | 727 |
| Section 16 - Housing Act 1961 | 172 | 61 | 3 | 2 | 238 |
| Negotiations in progress | 14 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 24 |
| Work completed | 117 | 165 | 183 | 27 | 492 |
| Work in default authorised | 66 | 64 | 73 | 4 | 207 |
To deal with this work on houses in multiple occupation, the
Council have established a section consisting of a senior and five other
public health inspectors. During the year under review, the section
was one inspector under strength until June. However, since that time,
when a new inspector was appointed, the section has remained at full
strength and has not been affected by the frequent changes of personnel
which had been experienced in the past. Although there is still a
serious shortage of public health inspectors in the Greater London area,
this section has been maintained at full strength to deal with this
very important aspect of the Council's housing work.
Although this work is not without difficulties, many of the
problems encountered in the earlier days of the project and which have
been mentioned in earlier reports are now disappearing. The Council's
policy of executing work in default is now more widely known among
owners and has had a good effect in securing the execution of works by
them.