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

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Barking 1914

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Barking]

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The work done by the sanitary staff under the Housing Acts is as follows:—

Number of dwelling-houses inspected under Section 17682
Number of dwelling-houses dangerous or injurious to health345
Number of representations made to the Authority11
Number of Closing Orders made*11
Number of defects remedied without Clos-ing Order334
Made fit after Closing Order*11

* In abeyance.
General character of defects found were dilapidated condition
of inside walls and ceilings; insufficient ventilation to
room; damp walls owing to no damp course and no under floor
ventilation; defective floors and woodwork.
it is to be noted that a shortage of house accommodation still
exists, in spite of the number of houses built by the Council.
The inevitable result is a rise in rentals as the following figures
taken from the London County Council's report on new working-class
accommodation show. Rentals in 1911 (census):—
Three rooms, 4/6; four rooms, 5/10½; five rooms, 8/1; six
rooms, 11/6; or an average rental of 1/6 per room. Rentals in
1913:—Three rooms, 5/6; four rooms, 8/6; five rooms, 9/4;
or an average of 1/11¼ per room. This constitutes a rise of 5¼d.
per room per week, or nearly 30 per cent. It is obvious that
private enterprise is not meeting the demand, and a