Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hammersmith Borough]
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15
SECTION C
HOUSING
Rehousing.
The Housing Manager continues to co-operate with the Health
Department on applicants with overcrowding or medical problems.
Requests are received asking for inspections to be made with a
view to ascertaining whether a family is living in overcrowded
conditions. Enquiries are then made by the Public Health Inspectors,
and, if a family is found to be living in such conditions, overcrowding
is duly certified.
In instances where the request is accompanied by medical
certificates supporting the family's application on medical grounds,
very careful consideration is given that the recommendations are
made only for the most urgent cases, having regard to the nature
of the illness, the condition of the premises and the amenities
available.
Applications for rehousing by the London County Council are
made to that authority direct, and requests for various enquiries to
be made are received from that Council through the Housing
Manager. In cases where there is medical evidence, the Medical
Officer of Health to the London County Council is responsible for
allocating priorities on health grounds, but rehousing on such
grounds has become very substantially reduced.
10 cases were recommended for rehousing on grounds of health
and 80 on grounds of overcrowding.
I append a table showing the number of cases recommended for rehousing under the headings mentioned above, and those actually rehoused from 1949.
Year | HEALTH GROUNDS | OVERCROWDING GROUNDS | SPECIAL CASES | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Recommended | Rehoused | Recommended | Rehoused | Recommended | Rehoused | |
1949 | 61 | 25 | 358 | 132 | 34 | 4 |
1950 | 35 | 10 | 439 | 203 | 8 | 9 |
1951 | 37 | 10 | 243 | 88 | 9 | 4 |
1952 | 27 | 10 | 187 | 79 | 7 | 7 |
1953 | 30 | 6 | 178 | 65 | 17 | 5 |
1954 | 34 | 2 | 145 | 86 | 14 | 4 |
1955 | 28 | 3 | 129 | 55 | 6 | 5 |
1956 | 16 | 4 | 97 | 4 | 5 | - |
1957 | 18 | 5 | 90 | 13 | - | - |
1958 | 20 | 13 | 69 | 16 | — | 1 |
1959 | 10 | 6 | 57 | 25 | — | 1 |
1960 | 10 | 2 | 80 | 9 | — | — |
Totals | 326 | 96 | 2,072 | 775 | 100 | 40 |
To make the above figures realistic it should be pointed out
that the figures for those rehoused are extremely unlikely to be from
recommendations of the same year.