London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Harrow 1954

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]

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75
houses, 93 on the main list who qualified but to whom no promise had
been made, 13 outstanding cases of families with a member suffering
from tuberculosis and 84 for the rehousing of families in Merrion Avenue
hutments, etc., families in houses the subject of operative Closing Orders
and Demolition Orders, hardship cases and the licensees of some
requisitioned properties. Allowance was made for 137 houses to
rehouse tuberculous families, 100 houses to meet new cases of hardship,
licensees of requisitioned properties and newly qualified applicants and
55 houses were being provided for rehousing families from properties
the subject of existing Clearance (41) Orders and Demolition (14) Orders.
That left 528 housing units to be allocated, half for families to be rehoused
from further insanitary dwellings to be demolished and from persons
living in accommodation statutorily overcrowded by more than one
unit, and the other half to applicants qualifying under the points scheme.
In September, 1953, the Housing Management Sub-Committee,
feeling that the Council's house building programme was reaching its
final stage and that within two years would cease altogether from lack
of suitable building land, decided to remove from the housing waiting
list applications from childless couples, from those where the applicants
are adequately housed and from those persons living outside the district.
The residential qualification required by an applicant for admission to
the normal housing waiting list is continuous residence in Harrow of
either the husband or wife from 1st June, 1940.
No provision had been made in the 1952 review to provide for the
permanent rehousing of the licensees of requisitioned houses. By a
later ruling of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, December,
1956, was the date set to the Corporation for the release of these houses.
A further review of the Council's housing took place in 1954. The
following information is extracted from the report of the meeting of
the Housing Management Sub-Committee on 23rd March, 1954. It
was estimated that 700 new dwellings would become available (excluding
a certain number linked with the Poet's Corner proposals). Against
this figure of 700 there were commitments totalling 108, comprising 51
under the points scheme, 5 families in overcrowded accommodation,
1 families with a member suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, two
cases authorised on the grounds of hardship and 43 families to be
rehoused from requisitioned houses. In addition there were 44 families
in houses the subject of confirmed Clearance or Demolition Orders and
a further 100 houses were earmarked for the housing of licensees in
requisitioned properties. The remaining houses were to be allocated
to:—
Tuberculous cases. The proportion suggested is approximately
a one-tenth allocation of all new dwellings coming forward 70
Housing List applications qualifying under the normal operation
of the points scheme 200
Eviction cases 30
Rehousing of families from halfway houses 96
Overcrowded families 20
small balance to rehouse further hardship cases, or for "decanting"
families from further insanitary properties, etc. 32