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(6) Foundry Place Area (Represented in 1919).—This area has been
improved. Brick work in good condition—little or no dampness. This area
would not be represented at present time.
Foundry Row : On east side back extensions are back to back.
On receiving this Report the Committee requested the London County
Council to inform them of their intentions regarding areas Nos. 2 to 5. At
the same time the Committee requested that consideration might be given to
the advisability of dealing with certain areas in the Borough as improvement
areas rather than as clearance areas, as it was felt that the former might prove
both less costly and less difficult from the point of view of re-housing. In due
course a reply was received from the London County Council to the effect that
in view of the present financial position, the Council was not prepared to consider
any proposals for dealing with these areas under Part I of the Housing
Act, 1930.
Overcrowding.
The table on page 105 shows that the ten years since the last census have
seen a slight improvement in the number of persons per room, but against
this improvement must be set the fact that families are somewhat smaller
than they were. The decrease in the number of families in the Borough since
1921 is less than one per cent. The number of separate lettings have accordingly
not fallen in the same proportion as the population, which fact helps
to explain the persistence both of the difficulty of obtaining accommodation
in the Borough and of cases of large families living under conditions of extreme
overcrowding. In these cases a difficulty frequently.met with is that
though the parents are able and willing to pay for more ample accommodation,
they are refused as tenants because of the number of their children.
As a result of recent changes it is, however, possible to detect a slight
improvement in the housing situation. It appears to be somewhat easier to
move both out of the Borough and within the Borough.
During 1931 the number of cases of overcrowding coming to the notice
of the Department was 168, and the number remedied 192, the latter figure
including cases outstanding from the previous year. The corresponding
figures for 1930 were 136 cases found and 92 cases) remedied. That it was
possible to remedy twice as many cases during the year under consideration
as in the preceding year is an indication of the easier general situation to
which reference has just been made.
The 192 cases of overcrowding remedied in 1931 are accounted for as
follows:
Moved to L.C.C. Estates outside the Borough 47
Moved elsewhere 145
Rent Restrictions Acts.
The housing problem in Shoreditch is largely controlled by the Rent
Restriction Acts, and in the few remarks that follow the general