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43
HOUSING.
Conversions.—Section 102 of the Housing Act, 1925, and Section 84 of the Law of Property Act,
1925, empower a County Court to vary the terms of a lease or other instrument so as to enable a house
to be converted into tenements, notwithstanding any restrictive covenant there may be to the contrary.
Two applications under these Sections were made during the year, the premises to which they related
being No. 8, Palace Court and No. 8, Porchester Gate.
Plans continue to be submitted to the Council under the drainage bye-laws, relative to the
conversion of premises into tenements. It is probable that a number of other conversions were carried
out in which no interference with existing drainage was involved. Such conversions would not come
within the purview of the department.
Compulsory Repairs.—No notices were served under Section 17 of the Housing Act of 1930, but
119 communications were sent to owners drawing attention to defects liable to be dealt with under
this Section. These communications in most instances resulted in the defects being remedied.
Clearance Areas.—During the year a number of areas were surveyed in the Borough with a view
to their being dealt with as clearance areas if found to be suitable for such procedure. Notice of the
Council's proposals was given to the London County Council with regard to several of these areas.
In the case of an area in North Wharf Road the County Council suggested that it might be extended,
and that the most convenient course to adopt would be for that Council to pass the necessary resolution
under Section 1 of the Housing Act, 1930, and to purchase the properties in the area, together with
such adjoining premises as it might be considered desirable to acquire in order to form a suitable
re-housing site, and to convey the cleared site to the Borough Council, on the basis of the actual cost,
for the erection of dwellings thereon for re-housing purposes.
The Borough Council, having intimated their concurrence in the foregoing suggestion, the County
Council passed a resolution on the 18th December, 1934, declaring the area to be a clearance area.
The following is an extract from a report made to the County Council by their Housing and Public
Health Committee:—
North Wharf Road Area, Paddington.
The area is 1.12 acres in extent and comprises 56 houses (three unoccupied) and one shop.
It lies just off Harrow Road and consists of a corner site bounded on the south and west by the
curve of North Wharf Road, on the north by the rear of properties (shops and business premises)
in Harrow Road, and on the east by a large garage, between properties in Dudley Street and
Hermitage Street. The houses in the area are two and three storeys in height, old, worn and in
a state of disrepair. There is some internal bad arrangement, but not much congestion on the
site. A curious feature is two groups of one-storey cottages in the rear yards of the houses in
Dudley Street and approached only through these houses. For the purpose of re-development
it will be necessary to acquire certain additional lands, 0.07 acres in extent, on which the buildings
are in ruins, making a total area to be dealt with of 1.19 acres.
The site has the disadvantage from the housing point of view of being partially surrounded
on the western and southern sides by industrial and municipal undertakings, but housing
accommodation in this particular locality is greatly in demand on account of its proximity to
Paddington Station and the industrial undertakings referred to. We are of opinion, therefore,
that the site should be utilised for the erection of working class dwellings and we shall consider,
in due course, a proposal for the transfer of the cleared site to the Paddington Metropolitan
Borough Council for this purpose on the basis of actual cost.
The displacement of 335 persons of the working classes is involved, all of whom are in
occupation of houses in the clearance area.
A Compulsory Purchase Order with regard to the area was made early in 1935 and submitted to
the Minister of Health for confirmation.
One area was dealt with by the Borough Council. This comprised four two-storey dwelling-houses,
Nos. 69, 69a, 71 and 71a, Artesian Road, of a "back-to-back" type and situated in a cul-de-sac. They
were occupied by eight families consisting of 25 persons, for whom the London County Council agreed
to provide accommodation in dwellings on their Housing Estates. Formal declaration of the area as
a clearance area designated the Artesian Road Clearance Area, was made by the Council on the
24th July, 1934. The resultant order (the Artesian Road Clearance Order) was duly submitted to
the Minister of Health for confirmation. In consequence of the receipt of objections to the order, the
Minister gave notice that a Public Inquiry would be held on the 15th January, 1935.
Two other small areas came under consideration, but in view of their possible inclusion in a much
larger scheme which the ground landlords proposed to undertake, action with regard thereto was
postponed.
At the close of the year the survey of the Borough was still proceeding.