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The local living conditions were a population of 18,230 accommodated
in 6,751 households. The area consists of congested streets of 1,900
three-storey and basement terrace houses over 100 years old, with a front
and a back room on each storey and frequently a back addition to the
basement and ground floor. Practically all the houses are in multiple
occupation. Typically, the fabric is worn out, the basement is damp, no
bathroom exists and the W.C. is shared by the four families or more in
residence. Despite all this, market prices can be as high as £5,500.
Additional considerations are a housing waiting list of 3,947 families,
rehousing commitments related to slum clearance areas of 62½ acres, with
a population of 9,073, a virtual absence of vacant sites, and development
normally restricted to a maximum of 136 per acre. In each case, owners
have been required to execute repairs. By the operation of the
provisions of the Housing Acts, 1957, 1961 and 1964, and the Houses in
Multiple Occupation Regulations, a great deal has been done to ameliorate
conditions in such houses by repair, including the improvement of
basements and the necessary work to remedy dampness, by the installation
of amenities-fixed baths, wash basins, sinks, hot and cold water
supply, W.Cs., food stores, on a scale approved by the Council, e.g.,
one bath to every ten persons, one W.C. to every eight persons; by
arrangements for the care of parts in communal use, and the reduction
of overcrowding and the provision of fire escape facilities complying
with a code agreed with the Greater London Council. In particularly bad
cases the additional powers of compulsion by means of Management or
Control Orders have been invoked.
So far, 763 houses have been completed at an average cost, where the
work was carried out by the Council, of £1,491 per house, the highest
being £4,148. In the majority of cases, dwellings for four families
have been provided. In a further 797 houses, inspections and works are
in progress. In only 6-7% of cases has it been necessary for the
Council to carry out work in default.
With existing and future commitments it seems extremely doubtful
whether it would ever be possible to clear and rehouse from even part
of this area a portion sufficiently large to commence redevelopment
unless very substantial financial, rehousing and legal assistance is
forthcoming. It will probably be expedient in this and in similar
areas to apply the policy which has been applied since World War II to
the whole of the northern area of the borough-namely, to establish,
where and when appropriate, pockets of slum clearance, of private
enterprise development, areas of redevelopment by housing associations,
rehabilitation and conversions by private owners.
There is no universal panacea for the housing problem. Each
individual case has to be examined on its merits and many of the
considerations mentioned have to be taken into account. We can only
hope that the Housing Bill as amended will fulfil the exhortation in
the White Paper that "much more should be done year by year to improve
and repair houses that can be improved and to get rid of the unfit
ones".
Slum Clearance.
Action already taken.
The following table gives details of the clearance areas declared
in the borough since 1950:-