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40
6. Cynthia Street - 8 premises
A Clearance Order was made by the Council but had not been submitted
to the Minister.
7. Galway Street - 158 premises
Confirmation of the Clearance Order by the Minister was received
during the year.
Inspections
During the year inspections were carried out by the Public Health
(Housing) Inspectors of certain properties which it was felt might be
added to the provisional list of premises scheduled for clearance
under the Housing Acts. By far the greater number of these viz. 292
premises, were in an area in the central part of the borough and a
further 10 houses were in Calshot Street.
Discussions took place with the London County Council the outcome
of which had not finally been determined by the close of the year.
The total number of house to house inspections made in 1956 was 305.
Overcrowding
It is difficult to estimate the extent of overcrowding in the
borough - either overcrowding based on the purely legal standard or
what may well be considered to be overcrowding, of families living in
cramped conditions necessitating the use of kitchens as bedrooms but
not legally overcrowded. Generally speaking however serious overcrowding
is much reduced and the majority of cases coming to the
notice of the department are invariably overcrowded to the extent of
½ to 1 unit. Thirty-five such families were reported to the appropriate
authority during 1956.
Two cases of wilful overcrowding came to light during the year.
In one of them, following strong pressure from this department, a
tenant of a house, following Court action, succeeded in obtaining
possession of a sub- tenant's grossly overcrowded room; in the other
legal proceedings were pending at the end of the year.
Rehousing
Applications for rehousing by the Borough Council are made to the
Housing Manager and these have been assessed for some years according
to a points scheme. When accompanied by medical certificates to
support the application on medical grounds these have been referred to
the Medical Officer of Health. Enquiries are then made by the Nurse/