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56
During the year the Medical Officer of Health made representation
that Four areas in the Old Town District should be dealt
with as Clearance Areas under Section 1 of the Housing Act, 1930.
These areas comprised 107 individual houses which contained 625
(including 51 lodgers) inhabitants. At the Local Enquiry the
representation was upheld, with the exclusion of 12 houses in Area
I., and 6 houses in Area III.
OVERCROWDING.
During the course of a systematic inspection of 4,692 houses
between 1st January and 31st December, 1932, 58 or 1.2 per cent,
were found to contain one or more overcrowded rooms.
A family is considered to be overcrowded if the total accommodation,
after allowing one room as a living room, in addition to
the necessary bedroom accommodation, does not provide floor area
for each member of the family of 40 square feet for persons over
5 years and 30 square feet for persons under 5 years, or the accommodation
does not permit of the sexes being properly divided.
98 families occupied these 58 houses and 60 or 61.2 per cent,
of these families were found to be overcrowded. In 33 houses of
the 58 houses it was found possible to abate overcrowding without
producing corresponding overcrowding elsewhere.
60 notices were served to abate overcrowding.