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other houses which would have to be condemned. These it is presumed
in the meantime are just that much better than those about which complaints
have been received. As inspection could not be followed by early
rehousing where necessary, the routine inspections of houses are not being
made.
Slum Clearance Programme
The Council's proposals submitted to the Ministry in August, 1955,
for dealing with unfit houses in the district referred to 577 properties. It
was expected that the clearing and replacement of the unfit houses could
be carried out in five years.
At the time the survey was completed in April, 1955, the 577 houses
included 29 which were already the subject of confirmed Clearance
Orders, 39 the subject of confirmed Demolition Orders and 115 about
which action had already been started. The 115 included the 91 houses
in the Northolt Road area, 4 in Pinner Hill Road, 10 in Palmerston
Road, 4 in Crown Street and 6 at Little Common. In April, 1955,183
of the 577 houses were the subject of some action. By the end of 1955 a
further 63 of the balance of 394 were being dealt with.
The Clearance and Re-development Committee at their meeting in
December, 1955, decided that the first year of the Council's slum clearance
programme should be devoted to the clearance and re-development of
the unfit houses in the Northolt Road clearance area. Stress was laid
on this as it was felt that the Council's slum clearance programme hinged
on the clearance of areas, some at least of which would provide sites on
which could be built a greater number of houses than the number
demolished on them. The development proposed for the Northolt
Road area would provide 241 new dwellings on the cleared site of the 163
houses to be demolished. The only other site yielding a surplus would
be that obtained on demolishing the 200 prefabricated dwellings at
Rayners Lane; on this site 244 housing units could be constructed.
The overall picture throughout the rest of the district is of a deficiency,
it being expected that only 76 units could be put up against the 180
demolished at Poet's Corner, and for the rest of the district 215 constructed
against 367 demolished, the total figure being 776 new housing units
against 910 demolished. Further progress, however, has been made in
spite of the fact that even at the end of the year the public enquiry into the
Northolt Road clearance proposals had not been held. The inspections
of this area were made during 1954 and the first representations made
in November 1954.
Slum Clearance Subsidy. The slum clearance arrangements
which started in 1930 came to an end at the outbreak of the war from which
time little progress had been made throughout the country up to 1955.
The returns pointed to there being some one million houses in the country
to be considered. The building of houses in the post war years had been
encouraged by Government grants. The standard subsidy for an ordinary
house was £35 12s. Od. per annum for 60 years out of which the Exchequer
contribution was £26 14s. Od. These figures were later reduced to
£29 8s. Od. and £22 1s. 0d. for houses completed after March 31st, 1955.
By the Housing Subsidies Act 1956 the subsidy on houses built for genera