View report page

91
the various years; to the growth and development of Council Estates; to
overcrowding and the steps taken to deal with this social evil; to the unfit
property and the measures taken to deal with it. They also provide a kaleidoscopic
view of the changes that have taken place in housing standards.
Quoting from earlier Reports, that of 1934 refers to the number of houses
maintained by the Council. At this time it was about 1,800; today it exceeds
5,000.
The same Report refers to the provision of accommodation for the
aged:
"Eighteen bungalows for the aged were erected at Kings Road,
South Harrow, the formal opening taking place on October 4th. There
is an undoubted demand for such accommodation and it is hoped that
further similar habitations will be erected. Looking to the future, by
reason of the altered age distribution of the population with the
weighting of the proportion of the aged, brought about by the falling
birth rate, it can be visualised that a much greater proportion of the
building activity than has obtained in the past will, of necessity, be
devoted to this type of habitation."
(Today the number of units of accommodation for the aged exceeds 600).
The same Report goes on to say that by the end of the year the development
of the Glebe and of the Berridge Estates, with their 46 and 68 houses,
was well advanced and that towards the end of the year the Housing Committee
were authorised to proceed with the development of the southern
portion of the land comprised in the Harrow Urban (Rayners Lane
Housing Confirmation Order 1936), the proposal being for 82 houses and
248 flats.
Unfit Properties
It is encouraging to be able to record in this 1965 Report that the
London Borough of Harrow commences its municipal life in the fortunate
position of having no serious "unfit housing" problem, and there can be
few districts with more than 70,000 units of accommodation within their
boundaries of which this can be said. While there are dwellings standing
today that are beyond repair at a reasonable cost, they are comparatively
few, and it is also unlikely that apart from isolated pockets, consideration
will have to be given in the future to any action being taken under the
Clearance provisions of the Housing Acts. This is satisfactory but, at the
same time, the need to maintain and to improve property remains, for there
is ample evidence that neglected properties can readily deteriorate to the
stage of becoming beyond repair, and in consequence, become lost as
housing units. Then too there are still far too many dwellings within the
Borough without a bathroom or running hot water (the number is estimated
at 2,000) and in this respect it is disappointing that more owners
have not taken advantage of the Improvement Grant provisions of the
Housing Acts. The importance of good maintenance cannot be overemphasised.