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Southgate was in the fortunate position of being able to report
to the Ministry of Health during 1933 that no inhabited premises
existed in the district which could be classified as "slum property."
For the Council's information I herewith append the Report on this
matter which was submitted to the Public Health Committee in
June:—
''There can be no doubt that the general standard of housing in
Southgate is satisfactory and Well above the average. There are,
however, several small blocks of property which are considerably
below the general level. These are situated as follows:—
South Ward Park Cottages.
Curtis Road.
Part of High Road, New Southgate.
South portion of Palmers Road.
Lee Street.
Albert Street.
South Road.
Green Brae, Tottenhall Road.
North-East Ward Barrow Close.
Portion of Highfield Road.
Salisbury Cottages, Hoppers Road.
North-West Ward Elgin Cottages, Avenue Road.
Ivy Road.
Hillside Grove.
"Of these properties the worst are those in Ivy Road, Green
Brae, Salisbury Cottages, Curtis Road, Palmers Road and Park
Cottages. All these properties are inspected annually and in each
case we are able, mainly under Section 17 of the Housing Act, 1930,
and Section 91 of the Public Health Act, 1875, to obtain the repairs
necessary to put the houses into a condition suitable for occupation.
The only possible exception is No. 4, Salisbury Cottages, and even
here the house hardly comes within the purview of slum property.
There is, moreover, a strong possibility that the house may be closed
voluntarily.
"After careful consideration, I cannot say that there is any
property in the district which definitely comes under the category
of a 'slum.' In other words, we have always been able, up to the
present, to have the existing faults remedied and improvements
carried out at a reasonable cost. I would accordingly recommend
that the reply to the Ministry regarding our programme for the next
five years be to the effect that we have no areas, or even houses, in
such a condition as to require compulsory demolition or the enforcement
of a Closing Order; and that we are keeping pace with modern
conditions and improvements under the statutory powers at our
disposal.
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