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Council's Old Oak estate, and an economy will be effected by combining the two
estates for purposes of administration.
At the end of the year a preliminary scheme had been prepared, providing for
the erection of about 800 houses.
White Hart
street site,
Kennington
In view of the difficulty of obtaining suitable sites for housing purposes within
the County, the Council, on 17th November, 1925, decided to take advantage of
an opportunity to obtain possession of a site of about 2.3 acres in White Hart-street,
Kennington, the property of the Duchy of Cornwall. The Duchy were unable to
dispose of the freehold, but agreed to grant a lease of the land for a term of 120 years,
the rent to be a peppercorn for the first 10 years, £650 a year for the next 50 years,
and £1,300 a year for the remaining 60 years. The site, a part of which is occupied
by houses and other buildings, is very suitable for re-development by the erection
of dwellings which will be capable of accommodating about 900 persons. On
15th December, 1925, the Council approved an estimate of £2,700 for the preparation
of contract particulars.
St. Helier
estate.
During the year the attention of the Council was directed to certain sites,
situated mainly in the parishes of Morden and Carshalton, which were eminently
suitable for development as part of the programme of work to be undertaken to meet
the housing needs of the County of London. The site, which extends from along the
Epsom road on the north west to beyond the Sutton road on the south-east, will
be served by two railways—viz., the City and South London Railway which is being
extended to Morden, and a branch of the Southern Railway between Wimbledon and
Sutton for which Parliamentary powers have been obtained. The Sutton by-pass,
which is in course of construction, passes across the land. On 15th December, 1925,
the Council made an Order for the compulsory acquisition of the property, comprising
altogether about 846 acres, and approved an estimate of £500,000 in respect of the
purchase and partial development of the site. The Order was duly submitted to the
Minister of Health for confirmation and a local inquiry will be held in due course.
The estate will be known as the St. Helier estate.
Bush-green
House.
The Council has decided to adapt the upper floors of the disused lire-station
at Shepherd's Bush for rehousing purposes. The ground floor and basement
will be let for commercial use. The building when remodelled will be known as
Bush-green House.
Accommodation
of
tuberculous
persons.
Ihe question of the rehousing of persons aftected with tuberculosis who are
living in unhealthy or overcrowded areas has been considered, and it has been
arranged that, where cases of special hardship involving families which include
a person or persons suffering from tuberculosis arise, such cases should be specially
considered with a view to the available accommodation being allotted to cases
likely to derive the greatest benefit from the improvement in home conditions.
Prizes for
gardens and
window
boxes.
Carrington
House.
During the year the Council made grants not exceeding £80 in all 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 the Council's estates.
Expenditure not exceeding £250 has been sanctioned for the purpose of the
conversion of seven additional cubicles at Carrington House into special cubicles,
including the provision of the necessarv furniture.
Selection of
tenants.
In view of the fact that the Council's housing operations involve a heavy loss
which has to be met out of rates levied over the whole county, it was felt that some
relationship should be established with the requirements of the metropolitan borough
councils who should each receive a definite share of the accommodation provided. The
Council accordingly on 21st October, 1924, decided, as an experiment for one year,
that a part not exceeding 50 per cent. of its new accommodation provided under
Part III. of the Housing Act, 1890 (now Part III. of the Act of 1925), should be
allocated amongst suitable applicants recommended by the several metropolitan
borough councils in proportions based upon existing conditions of overcrowding