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1).—Proceedings under section 20 of the Housing Act, 1930:
(1) Number of separate tenements or underground rooms in respect
of which Closing Orders were made Nil.
(2) Number of separate tenements or underground rooms in respect
of which Closing Orders were determined, the tenement or
room having been rendered fit 3
Overcrowding.
Housing conditions can only be regarded as satisfactory when
the standard conformed to is such that every family is in occupation
of a dwelling of sufficient proportions and equipment adequately to
house them.
It is now five years since the Report of the Special Committee
of the National Housing and Town Planning Council was published,
but the following extracts from their summary of Conclusions are of
interest to quote :—
"Although over a million houses have been built since the
War, the pressure of overcrowding in the slums has been little,
if at all, relieved.
There are probably in England and Wales over a million
houses below a satisfactory standard, and two million houses
(including many of the unfit houses) which are seriously overcrowded.
To remedy these conditions, at least a million new
working-class houses are immediately needed, although the absence
of sufficient data prevents these figures from being more than
an estimate.
At least 90 per cent. of those who live in the slums could be
relied on to make good tenants if they had good houses at rents
which they could afford to pay.
It is estimated that during the next ten years 1½ million
working-class houses should be built in England and Wales, of
which one million should be let at a weekly rental of about 11s.
gross and half-a-million at about 7s. 6d. gross."
Undoubtedly, considerable progress has been made by local
authorities in regard to the provision of the required accommodation,
but there is still much to be done.