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77
Slum Clearance.—As indicated earlier in this section, slum
clearance is the only practical method left by which the urban
council is able to obtain space for housing. Conditions since the
war have militated against slum clearance and it is therefore very
gratifying to record that despite existing commitments the Council
have managed to recommence operations in this direction with the
representation of 3 properties in Park Vista. Arrangements have
already been made for further areas to be represented.
Re-Housing.—
(a) Borough Council.—There were 304 new dwellings provided
by the Council during the year and the number of families housed
and re-housed including transfers, casual voids, etc., amounted to
653. Of this number 32 were in respect of overcrowded cases and
5 in respect of closures under the Housing Act.
The Housing Department now has control of 2,775 Councilowned
units of accommodation, an increase of 294 over that of the
previous year.
At the end of the year, in addition to 100 occupied hutments, a
total of 968 properties giving 1,689 units of accommodation were
requisitioned by the Council in order to provide for persons rendered
homeless as a result of enemy action or who were otherwise inadequately
housed.
(b) London County Council.— By 31st December, 1952, the
L.C.C. bad provided alternative accommodation for a total of 330
Greenwich families of which 29 had been certified as overcrowded
cases. Of this figure, 137 were housed on L.C.C. housing estates
outside the Borough.
Overcrowding.—As a direct result of rehousing carried out by
the Housing departments of the Council and the County Council,
61 cases of overcrowding were abated during the year under review.
The number of unabated certified cases of overcrowding in the
Borough now amounts to 293.
During 1952, there was a further fall in the number of
complaints received concerning overcrowding, the year's figure of
105 shows a decline of 43 from that of the previous year. Each
complaint was investigated by the Sanitary Inspector concerned
and as a result of these investigations, 52 families were found to be
overcrowded according to the standards laid down by the Housing
Act, 1936, and were subsequently certified as such.