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117
The fourth group consists of houses which may be regarded as
generally in good or fair condition, which can be dealt with in the routine
manner by Notices for the abatement of nuisances under the Public
Health Act.
Conclusions.
The results of the recent survey indicate that while the efforts of
the Council during the past twelve years have, on the whole, improved
the housing situation in Battersea, especially is this so in regard to the
improvement which has been effected by the output of new working
class dwellings so far as the opportunities at their disposal permitted,
and by the repair of unfit houses.
The fact that it has been possible for them to build, or have in
course of erection, no less than 481 dwellings in the twelve years since
the War ended has materially improved the housing situation in Battersea
coupled, as it has been, with the assistance of the London County Council
in providing outside the Borough on their housing estates accommodation
for some of the worst cases of hardship and overcrowding The great
improvement in the clearance of what is known as the "Plough Road
Area" and the erection of working class dwellings on the site of one of
the worst areas in the Borough is also a matter of great satisfaction and
when this improvement scheme is completed by the extension rendered
possible by the acquisition of adjoining property, the effect will be to
improve and even beautify a hitherto depressing and squalid locality.
It is to be hoped that similar unhealthy, sordid and demoralising areas
in the Borough, some of which have already been represented by the
Medical Officer of Health, will be gradually and systematically proceeded
with.
Notwithstanding the activities of the Council during the past
twelve years in housing matters, it will be evident from this report that
there is still a lot of leeway to be made up before it can be said that the
housing difficulty in Battersea has been solved. It is all to the good
that some at least, of the more pressing problems have been dealt with
more or less satisfactorily. In only one field of activity, however, have
the Council's efforts attained an undoubted success—viz., the repair
of unfit houses. This has not been due to any apathy on the part of
the Council, but to:—
(1) Lack of land in the Borough on which to build working class
dwellings.
(2) In connection with slum clearance, to the difficulty of re-housing
dispossessed tenants and the financial considerations involved.
In the main, therefore, it has only been practicable for the Council
to concentrate upon the repair of seriously defective and insanitary
property, and this policy has been steadily and systematically pursued
since the War.
It is unfortunate that in regard to much of this class of property
the houses are so old, worn out and otherwise defective, that they are
hardly, in many instances, worth the outlay expended in putting them
into repair. There are many examples of such wasted efforts in the
Borough, houses upon which large sums of money were expended in
reconditioning them since the War, and which are now as bad or worse
even than before. The new Housing Act has made some practical
provision to meet this difficulty, of which, no doubt, the Council will
be prepared to avail themselves as far as may be required.
With regard to overcrowding, the real obstacle to progress is the
lack of provision of housing accommodation for families whose incomes
do not enable them to pay the rents demanded for the new houses. The
importance of this problem has somewhat tardily been recognised by
the Ministry of Health, who in January, 1932, addressed a circular letter