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28
under Section 19 of the Housing Act. In the ordinary way a
certain number of houses will be demolished in the next five
years. It is impossible to say of any particular property that
cannot today be considered as suitable for action under Section 19,
that it will need to be dealt with within five years. Apart from
other considerations, the standard set by the Court as the result
of an appeal under any order under Section 19 might be so raised
that conditions that today one might consider would justify a
demolition order, might not be sufficiently bad to warrant similar
action being taken at a later date. Then again, the desirability
of preventing occupation of an unsatisfactory house is bound up,
to a large extent, with the capacity of the tenants to pay for
alternative accommodation. Where the added rent seriously
depletes the family income a disservice might be rendered to
that family by obtaining the demolition of their original home.
In this way the problem is related to such wide matters as the
general economic state of the country and more particularly of
local employment conditions. It can be seen that while, in this
report, consideration is given to every property which may conceivably
require demolition within a period of time, it does not of
necessity follow that all these properties will not be standing
at the end of this period. On the other hand, it is quite possible
that other properties that ordinarily would be the subject of a
demolition order might be pulled down by the action of the owners
where the cleared site is required for the purposes of development.
In 1930 the quinquennial statement to the Ministry of
Health gave as the estimated number of houses to be demolished
within the next five years:—
In clearance areas nil
In improvement areas nil
Individual houses outside clearance and
improvement areas 100
In 1931 fifteen houses were demolished under the Housing
Act, and a further nineteen in 1932. In addition a number have
been pulled down by the owners.
Of the 20,071 houses in the district, 1,371 are over 30 years
old, in addition to which there are 98 inhabited shops of the same
age. Of this number 54 will probably come down in the next
five years. A certain number have already been reported as
requiring demolition, but for various reasons a demolition order has
not been made. In this group are classed Nos. 1 to 6, Bell Cottages,
which are the subject of negotiation between this Council, the
Ministry of Transport and the Essex County Council, as their
removal is required urgently to effect the widening of a very busy.