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228
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1912.
Rehousing.
During the year the Local Government Board released the Council from rehousing obligations as
regards 2,534 person of the working classes displaced from properties over which compulsory powers
of acquisition had been obtained mostly for purposes of the education service. In one case, however,
in which it was proposed to displace 526 persons of the working classes from a site in Nicholasstreet,
Hoxton, which was required for the erection of a new public elementary school, the Board
came to the conclusion that the circumstances were such that it would not be justified in dispensing
with the housing obligation. The Council also decided during the year that special rehousing schemes
were not necessary in respect of the displacement of 367 persons from certain other properties
acquired for similar purposes, there being no statutory obligation to rehouse these people.
Common
lodginghouses.
The Council has provided three model lodging-houses for men containing altogether 1,856
cubicles, viz. : Parker-street House and Bruce House, Drury-lane, and Carrington House, Deptford.
Action taken
under
Part III. of
the Act of
1890.
Under Part III. ot the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, the Council has voluntarily
provided in various parts of the county a number of tenement dwellings capable of accommodating
4,068 persons : and, in addition, it has acquired four suburban estates at Tottenham, Tooting,
Norbury and Hammersmith, comprising about 341 acres, for the erection of cottages. Up to
31st December, 1912, 2,648 cottages, with accommodation for 19,182 persons, had been completed
on these estates, making a total accommodation for 23,250 persons provided under Part III. of the
Act, exclusive of certain dwellings and lodging houses, which although erected under Part. III., were
provided to fulfil statutory rehousing obligations.
White Hartlane
estate.
The White Hart-lane Estate, lottenham (226 acres) was purchased in 1901 for £90,225. It
consists of two detached sections, of which the northern contains about 49 acres and is about
440 yards distant from the southern portion which is now in course of development. The Council
was obliged by the vendor to take both sections, but as the northern portion was not required for housing
purposes the Local Government Board consented in 1911 to its being sold, and efforts are now being
made to dispose of it.
The estate is situated in a district where the working-class population already largely predominates
; and the Council after some years felt that it would be impolitic to cover such a large
area with cheap-rented dwellings, and that it would be to the advantage of the district generally if a
substantial proportion of better-class property could be erected on the land. The provisions of the
Housing Acts, however, do not permit of the erection of dwellings for any other than the working
classes on land which the Council holds under Part III. of the Act of 1890, and special parliamentary
authority was therefore obtained in the session of 1912, to enable the Council to develop any
part of the southern section then unbuilt upon on the lines of a garden suburb, and not Solely for
the accommodation of the working classes. The Council is authorised to make a scheme for laying
out and developing the land and to sell or lease all or any of it for the purpose, but the Council
is not permitted itself to undertake the erection of any other than working-class houses. Any such
scheme, which is subject to the approval of the Local Government Board, may confer exemption
from or may relax or vary local by-laws relating to buildings or the laying out of streets.
During the year an offer was received from the Tottenham and Wood Green Burial Board to
purchase for £3,000 the freehold of about 4¼ acres of the estate adjoining the Tottenham Cemetery.
Owing to its irregular shape the piece of land in question would be costly to develop for building and the
Council considered it would be well advised to dispose of it. It was therefore decided to accept the
offer, subject to the Local Government Board's consent for which application has been made. The sale
proceeds will be devoted to the development of the remainder of the estate.
The development of the estate was proceeded with during the year. Roads and sewers
have been constructed on a part of the estate adjoining Lordship-lane, sufficient to enable
about 48¾ acres to be developed. Cottages have been erected or are being erected on about
33 acres, and 3⅓ acres have been laid out as an estate garden. About 28 acres have been laid out
as allotments for the benefit of the tenants of the cottages. On sections A and B (10½ acres)
304 cottages, containing accommodation for 2,454 persons, have been erected.
Administrative buildings are about to be erected on the estate, and five shops are being
built along the frontage to Lordship-lane, between Waltheof-avenue and Kevelioc-road. If the
demand is sufficient, further shops will be erected later.
Lord
Swaythling's
gift.
In 1903 the late Lord Swaythling (then Sir Samuel Montagu, Bt.), gave to the Council
£10,000 to be applied towards the development of about 25 acres of the White Hart-lane estate.
After taking into account the interest which had accrued, the gift amounted to £12,041 8s. Id. on
31st March, 1913, when the gift account was closed, the balance of the fund having been transferred
to the dwellings account during the year. The portion of the estate to which the gift has been
allocated is known as the Tower-gardens section. The construction of roads and sewers on the whole
of this Section has been completed and most of the roads have been finished and the footways paved,
the remainder of the work being carried out as the cottages are completed. About 3⅓ acres have,
by arrangement with the donor, been laid out as an estate garden, the cost being defrayed out of the
gift. On 31st December, 1912, 509 cottages, capable of accommodating 3,961 persons, had been
completed on this section, and 62 others were in course of erection.
Totterdown
Fields estate.
The development of the Totterdown-fields estate, Tooting (38 ¾ acres) has now been completed,
with the exception of a small amount of work of finishing certain roads. The total number of cottages
erected on the estate is 1,229 comprising 1,261 separate tenements affording accommodation for
8,733 persons. Four shops have also been provided. Particulars of the cottages and the rents charged
are given in Appendix XXI. The capital expenditure upon the estate has been as follows :—Land,
£44,934 ; fencing, £638 ; roads, sewers and development, £33,119 ; buildings, £315,756 ; estimated
outstanding liabilities, £1,484; total, £395,931. The annual gross rent receivable is £29,333, and the
actual surplus for 1912-13 as shown in the accounts is £1,520.