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The upper floors of a disused fire station in Calverley-grove, Upper Holloway,
were converted into eight tenements, and the rents fixed as follows:—Two-roomed
tenements, 9s. ; three-roomed tenements (top floor), 10s. and 103. 6d., first and
second floors, 11s.; four-roomed tenemants, 13s. 6d. The ground floor has been
let on lease for 21 vears for the purposes of a garage at a rent of £175 a year.
Calverley
house.
During the year the Council made grants amounting to a sum not exceeding
£85 out of the interest on deposits paid by tenants on taking up tenancies, for
distribution to prize funds for the best kept gardens and window boxes on its
housing estates.
Garden
prizes.
During the year the Council had under consideration the possibility of adopting
a system of hot-water supply for domestic purposes, with or without radiators in
the living-rooms, in block dwellings. Inquiries were made as to the views of
tenants on different estates on the subject, but owing to the fact that certain tenants
were opposed to what they feared might prove a source of additional expense, it was
not possible to arrive at a definite conclusion. As an experiment, however, the
Council agreed to the provision of a central heating system in one of the next blocks
of dwellings to be erected, with a view to testing the actual cost of supply, the
efficiency of the service, and the willingness of the tenants to pay any additional
rent wh.ch might be required for the amenity.
Supply of
hot-water.
The Council's action in the earlier years with regard to workmen s trains at
cheap fares was dealt with in the Annual Report for 1920 (Vol. I., p. 77). In the
Annual Report for 1923 (Vol. III., pp. 139-40) particulars are given of the proceedings
before the Railways Rates Tribunal at which representations were made
by the Council on the subject of the charges to be made for workmen's and season
tickets on London railways. During 1924 schedules of the standard charges proposed
to be made by the companies in respect of the conveyance of passengers and
goods were submitted to the Tribunal and formal objections to the proposals were
lodged on behalf of the Council. The Tribunal decided to deal with the matter in
stages, the first question to be determined being the amount of the standard revenue
of the companies in 1913 with the addition which may be made under section 58
of the Railways Act, 1921. Another question is that of the revenue which the
proposed standard charges will bring in, while a further question will be the allocation
of charges between goods' and passengers' interests together with the allocation of
the passenger charges among the different classes of passenger traffic. The Council
decided to be represented by counsel throughout the inquiry, which will be of a
protracted nature.
Workmen's
trains, etc.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ACCOUNTS AND STATISTICS.
Memorandum by the Comptroller of the Council (Mr. C. D. Johnson) on the
Housing Accounts for the Year Ending 31st March, 1925.
These accounts are prepared, subject to audit, in advance of the annual abstract
of the Council's accounts, for the financial year ending 31st March, 1925. They
contain provisional figures in respect of deficiencies on the schemes of metropolitan
borough councils, which will be subject to adjustment.
The accounts show the financial results of the Council's operations under the
Housing Acts, 1890 to 1924 (clearance of unhealthy areas and rehousing under
Parts I and II, and housing under Part III of the Act of 1890), and of rehousing
under various street improvement, etc., Acts. They are divided into four sections,
distinguishing the schemes carried out by the Council prior to the Act of 1919
(designated " Non-assisted schemes ") from the assisted schemes under the Acts of