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Requisitioned Properties.
The number of dwellings under requisition by the Borough
Council at the end of the year was 1,809, involving 2,523
lettings; three dwellings were recommended to the Housing
Manager for de-requisitioning for various reasons, and 24
basement rooms which did not comply with the regulations
were recommended for closure.
New Housing.
This year saw the commencement of the erection of the
Borough Council's Sidney Street Estate and the London County
Council's Ocean Estate proceeded apace.
During the year, 431 new dwellings were completed in the
Borough; 118 by the Borough Council, 258 by the County Council,
52 by the Commissioner for Crown Lands and 3 by private owners.
A list of the new properties erected in. the Borough since
the war by the Borough Council and the London County Council
will be found on pages 53 and 54.
Summary of Inspections made by the Housing Inspector.
Overcrowding 328
Preferential housing on health grounds 115
Underground Rooms 340
"Permitted Numbers" under Housing Act 1936 144
Temporary Hutments 167
Requisitioned premises 45
Premises Situated in Clearance Areas 151
Defence Regulation 68 C.A. 20
Building Licences 34
Section 5, Housing Act 1936 172
"11," " 47
Miscellaneous 155
Statistics.
Further Housing Statistics are given on pages 55 and 56.
Among the interesting statistics recorded in the Registrar-General's
One Per Cent Sample Tables of the 1951 Census,
are those relating to the presence or absence of ordinary
amenities in the housing of Great Britain to-day.
It transpires that 24 per cent of the households in the
Greater London area have to share water closet accommodation
(23% in Great Britain). 22 per cent in the London area have
to share piped water supply (17% in Great Britain). Households
in the Greater London area which have no bath of their
own, or who have to share baths amount to 46 per cent (45% in
Great Britain).
Bad as these figures may appear they are a great improvement
on the situation 50 years ago.
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