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Housing Act, 1935—Overcrowding Survey.—Section 6
of the Housing Act, 1935, provides that " as from the
expiration of six months from the appointed day, every
rent book or similar document used in relation to a
dwelling-house by or an behalf of the landlord shall contain
a summary, in the prescribed form, of the provisions of
Sections 2, 3 and 5 of this Act, and a statement of the
permitted number of persons in relation to the house."
Six months after the appointed day, it is the duty of
the Authority, upon the application of the landlord, or
of the occupier of a dwelling-house, to inform the applicant,
in writing, the number of persons constituting the permitted
number in relation to the house. It is necessary,
in order to be in a position to supply this information, and
to check that a house is not overcrowded, that every room
in each house in the Borough should be measured.
A scheme was prepared and submitted to the Council
which provided for carrying out this work, necessitating
the engagement of a temporary staff consisting of two
sanitary inspectors, ten measurers and five clerks.
Subsequently the London County Council intimated that
the appointed day for the Borough for the purpose of
Sections 3, 4, 8 and 68 of the Housing Act, 1935, had
been fixed as the 1st July, 1937.
It is the duty of the Local Authority to see that existing
cases of overcrowding are abated as soon as possible and
that no new cases arise, except for special reasons and
under conditions set out in temporary licence.
Arrangements have been made for:—
(1) The measuring of the rooms in working-class houses
for the purpose of ascertaining the permitted number for
each working-class dwelling, and for the furnishing of this