View report page

93
By 1948 the total number of housing applicants referred to by the
Health department was 4,041 of which some 1,401 were overcrowded
according to the standards laid down in the Housing Act of 1936.
In October 1951 an amended points scheme was put into operation
and a bedroom deficiency standard adopted from that date in substitution
of the former overcrowding standard, and the points for this were allocated
by the Housing Section.
Another aspect of the housing problem was the difficulty experienced
by the sanitary inspectors in getting dwelling-houses repaired.
This was partly due to shortage of material, partly to shortage of labour,
and partly to the multiplicity of licences and permits required. As
from May 1948 the health department was allocated a monthly quota of
the money which could be authorised for repair work in the borough,
and the sanitary inspector issued the necessary licences, either at the
same time or following the issue of nuisance notices under the Public
Health (London) Act, 1936.
During this first year the value of the quota of money authorised
through the issue of civil building licences amounted to £340,034.
As time went on more and more work under the Housing Act was
undertaken and preparatory work was done in 1949 and 1950 relating to
projected clearance areas. The size of the problem in the administrative
County of London then was staggering it being estimated that in Category
1—probably representable at once there were 10,347 properties
in Category 2—for consideration after say five years there were 9,066
properties and in Category 3—for consideration later, probably not
within, say, ten years there were 19,614 properties.
The Minister of Health explained he was not contemplating
authorising a general resumption of slum clearance at this time, but he
did fix the number of slum dwellings which might be dealt with in
certain specified areas year by year. Accordingly the County Council
formulated a modified slum clearance programme for the whole of the
L.C.C. area for the five year period 1951-55, involving some 3,000
dwellings per annum. The County Council reached agreement with the
various Metropolitan Borough Councils with respect to the number
of homes unfit for human habitation to be dealt with by clearance area