London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
Underground rooms.
The number of underground rooms dealt with in 1910 in the several metropolitan boroughs is shown in the following table:—
| Metropolitan borough. | No. of rooms illegally occupied. | No. of rooms closed or illegal occupation discontinued. | Metropolitan borough. | No. of rooms illegally occupied. | No. of rooms closed or illegal occupation discontinued. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battersea | 33 | 33 | Islington | 39 | 39 |
| Bermondsey | 4 | 4 | Kensington | 16 | 16 |
| Bethnal Green | 1 | 1 | Lambeth | 28 | 28 |
| Chelsea | 1 | 1 | Paddington | 8 | 9 |
| Deptford | 5 | 5 | St. Marylebone | 118 | 118 |
| Finsbury | 25 | 25 | St. Pancras | 471 | |
| Fulham | 7 | 7 | Shoreditch | 4 | 4 |
| Greenwich | 3 | 3 | Southwark | 3 | 3 |
| Hackney | 3 | 2 | Stepney | 42 | 15 |
| Hampstead | 115 | 60 | Westminster, City of | 50 | 48 |
| Holborn | 17 | 17 | Woolwich | 3 | 3 |
Under Section 17 (7) of the Housing and Town Planning Act, a room habitually used as a sleeping
place, the surface of the floor of which is more than three feet below the surface of the part of the street
adjoining or nearest to the room, is deemed to be unfit for human habitation, if it is not on an average
at least seven feet in height from floor to ceiling, or does not comply with regulations which the local
authority with the consent of the Local Government Board may prescribe. So far as is shown by the
annual reports of medical officers of health, regulations were made by the local authorities of St. Marylebone
and Woolwich, and were consented to by the Local Government Board. Regulations were also
made by the local authorities of Hampstead, Stoke Newington and Poplar, and draft regulations were under
the consideration of the local authorities of Kensington, Fulham, Holborn and Bethnal Green. Dr. Allan
reports that "the Council [of the City of Westminster] has not made regulations under this section, as it
does not seem clear from the wording of the section that it would be possible to enforce such regulations
with regard to rooms seven feet or over in height."
Overcrowding.
The following table, showing the number of dwelling rooms found overcrowded in each metropolitan borough, is compiled from information supplied by the medical officers of health, mainly in their annual reports:—
| Metropolitan borough. | No. of dwelling-rooms overcrowded. | No. remedied. | No. of prosecutions. |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of London | 15 | 15 | - |
| Battersea | 79 | 79 | - |
| Bermondsey | 129 | 127 | - |
| Bethnal Green | 182 | 167 | - |
| Camberwell | 94 | 94 | 2 |
| Chelsea | 11 | 11 | — |
| Deptford | 18 | 18 | - |
| Finsbury | 216 | 216 | - |
| Fulham | 35 | 35 | - |
| Greenwich | 34 | 34 | - |
| Hackney | 134 | 132 | - |
| Hammersmith | 21 | 21 | - |
| Hampstead | 7 | 7 | - |
| Holborn | 41 | 41 | - |
| Islington | 198 | 198 | 1 |
| Kensington | 147 | 147 | 3 |
| Lambeth | 73 | 73 | — |
| Lewisham | 1 | 1 | - |
| Paddington | 313 | 257a | 1 |
| Poplar | 141 | 141 | - |
| St. Marylebone | 159 | 159 | - |
| St. Pancras | 141 | 141 | - |
| Shoreditch | 104 | 104 | - |
| Southwark | 444 | 444 | - |
| Stepney | 668 | 668 | - |
| Stoke Newington | 14 | 14 | - |
| Wandsworth | 129 | 129 | - |
| Westminster, City of | 156 | 156 | - |
| Woolwich | 78 | 78 | - |
(a) No action taken in 56 cases, the deficiency of air space being very slight.