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82
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1910.
In 30 cases there was evidence of the existence of lice in the bedding or clothing found in the dwellings; in
the remaining 230 no such evidence was obtained. In 186 the dwelling rooms were described as being clean or fairly
so, in 35 as being dirty, in 22 there was marked evidence of bugs, and in 17 instances the rooms were both dirty
and infested with bugs. In 160 instances the bedding was described as clean or fairly so, in 60 it was dirty, in 23
evidence of lice was observed, in 3 it was dirty, and also contained lice, in 10 it was dirty and contained bugs, and
in 4 instances lice were observed in both bedding and clothing. In 18 instances the dwellings were markedly infested
with fleas and in 8 cases overcrowding was noted. It may be mentioned that in several cases evidence of extreme
poverty was manifest.
Revenue
Act, 1903
Under section 11 of the Revenue Act, 1903, on the certificate of the medical officer of health
that the house is so constructed as to afford suitable accommodation for each of the families or
persons inhabiting it, with due provision for their sanitary requirements, there is exemption from or
reduction of inhabited house duty, as follows:—
(1) Where a house, so far as it is used as a dwelling house, is used for the sole purpose
of providing separate dwellings—
(a) The value of any dwelling in the house which is of an annual value below twenty
pounds shall be excluded from the annual value of the house for the purposes of inhabited
house duty; and
(b) The rate of inhabited house duty, in respect of any dwelling in the house of an
annual value of twenty pounds, but not exceeding forty pounds, shall be reduced to threepence
; and
(c) The rate of inhabited house duty, in respect of any dwelling in the house of
an annual value exceeding forty pounds, but not exceeding sixty pounds, shall be reduced
to sixpence.
For the purposes of these provisions medical officers of health were called upon to certify
numerous houses during the year, and in some instances the application was granted, in others it was
refused, while in others, again, it was only granted after alterations had been made to meet the conditions
necessary, before certification. The Act appears to be instrumental in ensuring a higher standard
of dwelling accommodation than before.

Section 35 of the Housing and Town Planning Act extends to common lodging-houses at which
the charge does not exceed sixpence per night the provisions of Section 11 of the Revenue Act, and hence
reference is made in some of the reports to the action taken by medical officers of health in respect of
these houses. In certain instances modifications and improvements of houses were made by
keepers with a view to their obtaining exemption from inhabited house duty.
(a) Includes 5 applications from previous year again deferred,
(b) Includes 23 tenements to which the applications for certificates did not apply.