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4. Housing Act, 1936—Part IV.—Overcrowding :—
(a) (i) Number of dwellings overcrowded at the end of the year 1,064
(ii) Number of families dwelling therein 1,064
(iii) Number of persons dwelling therein 4,639
(b) Number of new cases of overcrowding reported during the
year Nil
(c) (i) Number of cases of overcrowding relieved during the
year 550
(ii) Number of persons concerned in such cases 3,025
(d) Particulars of any cases in which dwelling-houses have again
become overcrowded after the local authority have
taken steps for the abatement of overcrowding Nil
(e) Any other particulars with respect to overcrowding
ditions upon which the Medical Officer of Health
may consider it desirable to report:—
The Housing Act, 1935, continued by the Act of 1936, set up standards by
which occupied houses were to be considered overcrowded. A survey of the
Borough was commenced on the 1st November, 1935 and completed on the 20th
January, 1936, and upon the results of that survey the London County Council
based their calculations for the necessary amount of new housing accommodation
required to abate this overcrowding.
By the Housing Act, 1936, it is provided that after a certain date—1st
January, 1938, in the case of St. Marylebone—it is an offence against the statute
for a landlord to let houses and rooms to families whose numbers are in excess
of that allowed by the " permitted number," and also for families to occupy
new dwellings so as to cause overcrowding. To fix the responsibility as well
as to give guidance to landlord and tenant, it is enacted that all rent books
shall contain a statement of the permitted number of persons allowed to live
in the house or rooms to which the rent book refers.
The Act requires further that a local authority shall furnish such particulars
of " permitted numbers " to a landlord, and it was in order to obtain these
that measurements of rooms, additional to those already made during the first
survey, were undertaken. A card register has been compiled which records,
first the measurements and areas of all rooms in houses, and secondly the
families with the number of persons and the rooms each family occupy. In
this connection it may be noted that though there may be different groupings
of rooms by subsequent lettings, the sizes, of course, will remain constant,
and in future it will be a comparatively easy matter to give, from the register,
" permitted numbers " for new lettings. In addition, the register, by a simple
device, shows at a glance all cases of overcrowding.
Six carefully selected measuring assistants were engaged to do this work
under the supervision of the district inspectors. They commenced duties on
the 5th April, 1937, and completed the work on the 3rd July, 1937, office accommodation
being provided at the Mortuary in Paddington Street. The total
expenditure on wages for the temporary assistants amounted to £285, one half
of this being borne by the London County Council. Very little difficulty
was met with in the course of the work, and a visit by the sanitary inspector
was sufficient to overcome any opposition to entry.
At the time of the visit and inspection opportunity was taken of bringing
up to date the particulars of occupation of all working class houses. A considerable
amount of work, particularly of revision, was done by the district
inspectors themselves. Great credit is due to them and to the clerical staff
for the smoothness with which the whole task was carried out.
Table 28 gives the final result of the survey.