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35
Administration.
Slum clearance.
During 1935 the pace of slum clearance set by the programme adopted in 1934
has been maintained, and representations have been made by medical officers of this
department under section 1 of the Housing Act, 1930, to the Housing and Public
Health Committee, as follows :—
Areas
Houses
"Other Buildings;' included
under the terms of sec. 62 (1)
of the Housinq Act. 1935
During the year 1935 59 4,409 47
Total number under the 1930 Act
up to 31st December, 1935 145 10,227 47
One improvement area—Treverton Street, Kensington, covering more than
11 acres and containing 238 houses and 10 "other buildings"—was represented
under section 7 of the Housing Act, 1930, and declared by the Council in May. The
total number of improvement areas declared is now 4, containing 843 houses.
Notifications have been received during the year in accordance with section 16
of the Housing Act, 1930, of the intention of the various Metropolitan Borough
Councils to deal with 2,238 houses in 142 areas, and the Council decided, for various
reasons, to deal with 11 of these areas itself.
During the year the number of medical officers engaged upon housing fieldwork
has been increased from five to six. Three extra inspectors have been appointed,
bringing the total inspectorial staff engaged on slum clearance to eighteen.
Co.operation with the metropolitan boroughs has continued on a cordial footing,
as is essential for the smooth working of the machinery of slum clearance. The
Borough Councils are housing authorities equally with the Council, and it is imperative
that misunderstandings or overlapping of schemes be avoided. In some cases the
borough medical officers of health have informed me beforehand of intended action,
and such an arrangement is much appreciated and frequently clears up difficulties
in connection with official notifications under section 16 of the Housing Act, 1930.
The outstanding event affecting housing activities during the year was the
passing of the Housing Act, 1935, which makes overcrowding an offence after a date
to be appointed by the Minister of Health. The Act placed on local authorities
the obligation to undertake a survey of their districts and to provide the necessary
additional houses to abate overcrowding. It also amended certain existing housing
enactments and introduced certain changes of procedure.
Existing by.laws concerning the number of persons permitted to occupy a house,
let in lodgings, or occupied by more than one family remain effective until " the
appointed day " for the enforcement of the new standard.
Further points arise as to making by.laws applicable to houses occupied by
one family only as well as to houses let in lodgings, and also for the prevention of
nuisances in parts of premises where a closing order is in force. This latter power
had already been obtained by the Royal Borough of Kensington by virtue of
section 70 of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1933, as had also the
power, now made general, to close (not merely for sleeping purposes), except for
approved usage, any underground room, irrespective of its being let as a separate
tenement.
The Act of 1935 also entails some modification of practice in the preparation
of maps for the purpose of representation under section 1 of the Housing Act, 1930.
Thus under section 62 (1) houses, or other buildings, which are properly included
by representation in a clearance area only on the grounds of their bad arrangement
in relation to other buildings, or the narrowness or bad arrangement of the streets,
must be excluded from a clearance order unless by reason of disrepair or sanitary
defects they are deemed to be unfit for human habitation. This is a
matter of consideration to owners of property, the defects of which, although now
recognised as serious, are due only to the original bad arrangement on site, and were
brought into being at a time when such inherent evils were given scant consideratiou.
Such " other buildings " must now be indicated distinctively on the medical officers'
representation maps and not, as previously, included in the same " red " colour as