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127
This was extremely unfortunate for the clearance of substandard
dwellings was, and still remains, the only practical method of
increasing the sum total of dwellings in urban areas. It is no
wonder, then, that the acute shortage of living accommodation is
still with us.
Municipal housing in Greenwich dates from the introduction
of the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1919, which enabled
the Council to provide, with exchequer assistance, housing accommodation
to rent. It acquired leases of several large houses in
Blackheath and converted them into self-contained flats. Gaining
confidence from this first venture the Council, in 1920, made a
compulsory purchase order for the acquisition of approximately
40 acres of land in the Charlton area known as the "Hanging
Wood Lane" site on which it was proposed to build 464 houses,
and the following year saw the commencement of the scheme.
Resulting from the purchase in 1925 of Charlton House and
its extensive grounds, the Council was enabled to embark upon
further housing projects and, by the end of 1934 (at which time
the London County Council began its own housing operations in
the Borough), some 1,111 dwellings had been constructed since
the first scheme of 1920. By 1939, the number of dwellings
erected in the Borough had risen to 4,826 of which the Council
had built 1,418, the London County Council 911, and private
enterprise 2,497.
The nation's house building was brought to a standstill by
the war in 1939, during which Greenwich suffered heavily from
bomb damage and the destruction of a great deal of its residential
property. Serious housing problems arose which were partially
resolved by the requisitioning of some 2,000 units of private
accommodation under war time emergency legislation. Subsequently,
in accordance with the Requisitioned Houses and
Housing (Amendment) Act, 1955, de-requisitioning of these properties
had to be completed within 5 years and the Council was
faced with the formidable task of rehousing the occupants. As
this proved impracticable, in accordance with Section II of the
Act, several hundreds of properties were acquired, which after
conversion realised over 750 units of accommodation.
After the war, the Council immediately proceeded to reorganise
its housing programme to meet the new and urgent
situation and sites at Cherry Orchard, Victoria Way, Springfields,
Beaconsfield Road, Pond Road, Coldbath Street, etc., were
acquired for the provision of housing accommodation. More
recently, substantial London County Council housing at Kidbrooke,
Blackheath and at East and West Greenwich gave
valuable support to the Council's schemes.