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(b) Demolition Order Procedure. In six cases, properties were found to be in such a state
of disrepair, owing to old age and general deterioration, that they could not possibly be
repaired at a reasonable cost. In these cases, reports were made to the Housing Committee
and, in due course, notices were served upon the owners informing them of the time and
place at which the making of a Demolition Order would be considered by the Committee when
they were afforded opportunity for a hearing and for the submission of offers if they so
desired. Offers to make fit were received in only two cases which, in itself, is an
indication of the hopelessness of the position. It has even been found that owners have
offered their properties to the Council free of cost in order to relieve themselves of the
liability for upkeep. This aspect of the economics of the post-war world is having a serious
effect on the housing situation because it must and does lead to a gradual deterioration of
properties which, at the present time, it is important to retain in existence.
(c) Slum Clearance. Slum clearance in the form in which it was being achieved under the
Housing Acts prior to the war has ceased. It is now being continued in another form, that
is,when the planning authority arrange to deal with an area as one in which comprehensive
redevelopment should take place. A survey is made and an outline is provided for the
planning department giving details of properties which come within the definition "unfit
and incapable of being made fit at reasonable expense".
The planning authority then deal with the area as a whole but the properties which
come within that definition are dealt with by Unfitness Orders made under the provisions of
the Town and Country Planning and Housing Acts and from that point the procedure differs
little from that of pre-war years. It usually leads to a public enquiry on behalf of the
Minister concerned at which the Department and the owners give evidence as to the state of
the properties, the Inspector acting for the Minister later views the area and makes his
report and, in due course, the Minister makes his decision. Now that the areas which were
cleared entirely under war damage have been built upon, other areas containing obsolete
properties will be dealt with in increasing numbers and this aspect will place a very heavy
load on the Department for some years to come.
An important factor from the progress point of view is that, before the war, new
houses built by the Council were devoted entirely to the rehousing of families displaced
from slum clearance areas demolished; whereas now the Council are given a quota, that for
the year under review being 350 houses, about l/10th of which were devoted to licences to
private builders leaving 315 houses for the local authority to erect. These cover all
applicants and include families displaced by demolition orders or other forms of slum
clearance work. Progress in these circumstances must necessarily be very slow.
OVERCROWDING
Statistics relating to overcrowding should be viewed with caution. In 1939, the
number of persons per house or flat in West Ham was 4.9. Last year, 1949, it was
What then, it may be asked, is the reason for the increasing clamour for accommodation
by families in the Borough. The answer, I am convinced, lies in the fact that the number
of families per thousand population is steadily increasing whilst the number of persons per
family is just as steadily decreasing. The net result of all this is that we need more
and more houses in which to house more and more families containing less and less people.
The census to be taken during 1951 will no doubt bear out this theory. It is a
fact at the present time that the number of persons per room in West Ham is only .94 as
compared with 1.14 in 1931, yet the population are under the impression that overcrowding
is more serious now than ever it was.
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