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81
HOUSING.
Clearance Areas.—The five-year programme of slum clearance
and re-housing adopted in 1930, under which the London County
Council were to deal with four areas and the Borough Council with
16 areas, had been practically completed by the end of 1935. As
regards the County Council's areas, one has been cleared and
rebuilding is in progress, 51 of the 76 houses in another area have
been demolished and Compulsory Purchase Orders have been
confirmed by the Minister of Health as regards the other two areas.
The persons living in the areas with which the Borough Council
decided to deal have all been re-housed and the houses in 15 of the
16 areas have been demolished.
A further programme was framed in 1935 under which the
County Council is to deal with two areas and the Borough Council
with 34 areas. The County Council's two areas and 12 of the
Borough Council's areas were represented as clearance areas in 1935
and inspections are proceeding with a view to the completion of
this second programme at the earliest possible moment.
Housing Act, 1935—Overcrowding Survey.—Section 1 of the
above Act states that it shall be the duty of every local authority
to cause to be made an inspection of their district to ascertain what
dwelling-houses therein are overcrowded.
Overcrowding is defined in the Act as follows:—
A dwelling-house shall be deemed to be overcrowded at
any time when the number of persons sleeping in the house
either—
(a) is such that any two of those persons, being persons
ten years old or more of opposite sexes and not being
persons living together as husband and wife, must
sleep in the same room; or
(b) is, in relation to the number and floor area of the
rooms of which the house consists, in excess of the
permitted number of persons.
The expression "the permitted number of persons" means the
number determined in accordance with either of the following tables
set out in the first schedule of the Act, whichever is the less:—