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HOUSING.
In common with a large number of other Authorities great
activity has been displayed in regard to Housing. The difficulties
and problems of this vital question have occupied the deliberations
of this Council for some years, and much has been done. Recently,
however, additional facilities have been provided as regards dealing
with slums. Contrary to what might be expected there are few
bad slums in West Ham, for as I have mentioned in previous
annual reports the growth of this Borough has been
very rapid, and most of the property, and highways and byways
are of comparatively recent development. The definition of
a slum is so elastic that it is usually translated so as to indicate
an indefinite statement. Courts and alleys are, with one or two
exceptions, practically non-existent here. There are nevertheless,
areas containing blocks of dwellings which by the nature
of their construction, and disrepair, constitute highly undesirable
domiciles of the character of a slum. One such area has
been dealt with during 1933, under the nomenclature of the
"West Ham Old Canning Town Clearance Area." The buildings
in this area, which comprised 93 houses, were the subject of a
public enquiry by the Ministry of Health, and in nearly every
instance appeals were made by the owners against the demolition
of their property. I set out below the outline of the general
features submitted. It was satisfactory that, after an exhaustive
(not to say tedious) enquiry, only five houses were omitted from
the order.
West Ham Old Canning Town Clearance Order.
The ninety-three houses designated under the Clearance Order
are comprised within the Canning Town Ward of the County
Borough of West Ham, and within the old Canning Town
district. This district is bounded on the east by the London and
North Eastern Railway, and on the west by the River Lee, on
the south by the Barking Road, and on the north by factories and
marsh land as far as the District Railway. The area is low lying,
being only six feet above ordnance datum (three feet below high
water mark), is liable to flooding, and has indeed been flooded.
The houses, which are occupied in the main by people of the
lower working classes, are mostly old. The houses have deteriorated
greatly within the last fifteen years : they are too badly constructed
to be properly repaired, and have indeed for many years
needed constant supervision by the Sanitary Inspectors.
The area as a whole is undesirable for a housing site, and I
have advised my Council under Section 2 (5) of the Housing Act,
not to permit dwelling houses to be erected on this site in
the event of this Clearance Order becoming operative. I have,
with my Sanitary Inspectors, inspected each house in this area,
and come to a definite conclusion "that the dwelling houses in the
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