London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Acton 1936

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Acton]

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standard is too low when it is remembered that living rooms are
counted in the total accommodation available. For example, in
a three bed-roomed house with kitchen, scullery and living room, the
number of units authorised to use that house for sleeping purposes
is 10, and there is no power in the Act to compel these persons even
to use all the bedrooms. The Act of 1935 does not directly prohibit
overcrowding in the public health sense—that is, more than a
given number of persons in a given space; it only makes it possible
for this not to happen. It is no offence for ten persons to sleep in
one room if the house they occupy allows ample accommodation for
their sleeping properly. Similarly Section 2 (1) (a) providing for
proper separation of the sexes is an admirable clause, in its intention
calculated to promote decent living and reduce incest, but its
enforcement unless there is an infringement of the overcrowding
provisions is practically impossible. On the other hand, the conment
has been made that table 2 takes no account of rooms which
are larger than 110 square feet, and this may prove to be a disadvantage
in connection with some of the older houses with large bedrooms.
Section 4 gives the Minister of Health the power, on the
application of a local authority and after consultation with the Central
Housing Committee, to modify temporarily the overcrowding
standard in its application to houses in the district of a particular
local authority or in any part of that district. The section sets out
the circumstances which must exist before the Minister can make an
order. One of these is that in the whole area of the authority, or in
some defined part of it, a large proportion of the accommodation for
the working classes consists of houses with large rooms. We have
no area in our district in which there is a large proportion of the
accommodation consisting of houses with large rooms. Some houses
have been sublet in which the area of the rooms exceeds 200 square
feet, and a few in which the area exceeds 300 square feet, so that we
do not apprehend a considerable amount of hardship. But a man
and wife with one child over one year of age, living in one room, no
matter how large that room may be, breaks the law. If a case of
infringement of the law is brought to court and proved, the magistrates
must convict, but there is no compulsion to bring a case where
the infringement is trivial, technical, or capable of accommodation
without legal action. To deal with any small number of houses with
large rooms which may exist in a district, Section 5 of the Act provides
that the local authority may, upon the application of the
occupier or intended occupier of such a dwelling-house, grant him a
licence (not exceeding twelve months) authorising him to permit such
number of persons in excess of the permitted number as may be specified
in the licence to sleep in the house, and a copy of such licenœ
must be served upon the landlord.