View report page

115
The rent relief which the new grant provides is only to be given to
those who need it and for as long as they need it.
The new Act is not designed to take the place of the Housing
(Financial Provision) Act, 1924. The two Acts are intended to be worked
in combination as parts of a single policy.
Local authorities are expected to rely upon the Act of 1924 for
their ordinary housing needs and to utilise the assistance provided by the
new Act for those in special need.
The survey recently carried out was restricted to those areas of the
Borough where the housing conditions were known to be inadequate
and otherwise unsatisfactory. Where it appeared that the conditions
of an area or part of an area were such as to suggest consideration as
a clearance or improvement area, the houses were inspected individually
in detail, and for this purpose 3,480 dwellings were inspected. In
addition, 3,602 dwellings were inspected generally, making a total of
7,082 premises inspected. It was not considered necessary to inspect
working class dwellings owned by the London County Council and the
Borough Council, the standard of such dwellings, generally speaking,
being well above the standard of other working class properties in the
Borough.
In respect of the remaining dwellings, regard was paid to the inspection
of such properties prior to the commencement of the survey, and
knowledge as to their past histories. A representative number of
specimen houses in each street was inspected in order to obtain a reliable
estimate of the state of the remaining houses in the street or streets
concerned. It is probable, however, that it will be found that since the
survey, some of the houses inspected early in the year 1931 will have been
found re-conditioned or repaired by the owners. On the other hand,
other insanitary houses will have been found to have undergone a further
deterioration.
Appended will be found a table shewing the number of total inspections
carried out under the housing survey and the classification in
respect of present state of fitness for habitation and the degree of urgency,
etc., of action required to be taken.

* These areas were represented in whole or in part by the Medical
Officer of Health, as unhealthy areas in 1920.