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40
Subsequently in November, the Council considered official
representations in regard to four areas situated in the Wood Street
Ward and the following areas were agreed by the Council:—
Walthamstow (Short Road) Clearance Area, 1953 (comprising
15 dwellings).
Walthamstow (Vallentin Road and Back Road No. 1)
Clearance Area, 1953 (comprising 10 dwellings).
Walthamstow (Vallentin Road and Back Road No. 2)
Clearance Area, 1953 (comprising 10 dwellings).
Walthamstow (Vallentin Road and Back Road No. 3)
Clearance Area, 1953 (comprising 6 dwellings).
The total number of dwellings concerned was 41.
The Census of the dwellings carried out immediately prior to
the consideration of the representations by the Health Committee
showed that there were (under the standard of the Housing Act,
1936) 122 equivalent adult units occupying accommodation with
a permitted number of 289 units. In other words, there was under
occupation to the extent of 167 units, or 55%.
It would appear from this finding, and from general experience,
that there is a large amount of under-occupation of dwellings
in the Borough generally. A considerable alleviation of the present
housing shortage would result from the appropriate conversion of
the larger under-occupied houses into flats with modern amenities.
During the year, the Council decided to consider the possibility
of making a clearance area in respect of 119 houses in Grange
Road, Frederick Street and Lynmouth Road. By the end of the
year, a detailed inspection of 96 houses in this area had been
completed.
During the course of detailed house-to-house inspections in
connection with these clearance areas, it became obvious that there
had been a very great improvement in the standard of living and
of maintenance in these older houses in the Borough. Good furnishings
and house-pride were in much greater evidence than before
the war, and in the large majority of cases, the tenants had themselves
undertaken interior maintenance, to the extent of installing
fixtures, such as new fireplaces, and in some cases, baths with hot
and cold water. In some cases the interior of these older houses, in
spite of very defective structure, was quite exceptional.