London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London

Hackney 1937

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]

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Table: During 1937 two blocks of flats, Fawcett House containing 65 flats with a total of 200 rooms and Woodfield House containing 26 flats with a total of 50 rooms, were completed and occupied by persons displaced from clearance areas. The following is a list of the dwellings provided by the Council up to the end of the year:—

During 1937 two blocks of flats, Fawcett House containing 65 flats with a total of 200 rooms and Woodfield House containing 26 flats with a total of 50 rooms, were completed and occupied by persons displaced from clearance areas. The following is a list of the dwellings provided by the Council up to the end of the year:—

Converted properties19 dwellings
Casimir Road Estate79 ,,
Daubeney Road Estate66 ,,
Fletching Road Estate49 ,,
South wold Road Estate:—
Flats100 ,,
Maisonettes92 ,,
Newcome House55 ,,
Powell House198 ,,
Banister House160 ,,
Fawcett House65 ,,
Woodfield House26 ,,

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Two further estates were completed and occupied in the early weeks of 1938,
one of which, Shacklewell House, containing 50 flats comprising 177 rooms, was
utilised for the purpose of re-housing persons displaced from clearance areas, whilst
the other, Nisbet House, containing 311 flats comprising 1,014 rooms, was utilised
partly for re-housing families from clearance areas and partly for the relief of overcrowding
in the Borough.
At each of these two estates there is a fully equipped electric laundry with
electric washing and drying machines by means of which a family wash can be done
and dried in less than an hour and a half. The wash-houses contain cubicles, each
complete with a standard model electric washing machine, sink, draining board,
running hot and cold water and outlet gully. Heating is by immersion elements
with temperature control by means of thermostats. The drying machines are operated
by a single push button control, and special interlocking devices make it simple
and safe to operate. A rota is prescribed for tenants and by strict adherence to the
routine it is possible to complete the schedule by midday on Thursday.
Also at both estates electrically operated goods lifts and pram and cycle sheds
are provided.
A special feature of the Nisbet House Estate is the provision of a community
hall, electrically heated and ventilated and containing stage, retiring room and
cloakrooms. The management of the community hall has been undertaken by a
tenants' committee on which the Council is represented. At this estate also garden
sites have been handed over to tenants to develop as flower beds or grass plots subject
to the supervision of the Housing Manager.
A description of the action taken to prevent the importation of vermin from
clearance areas to the Council's flats appears on page 75 of this report.
OVERCROWDING.
By the end of 1936 no less than 2,475 overcrowded dwellings, housing 11,769
persons, had been recorded in the Public Health Department. During the early
months of 1937 the work of measuring the dwellings was completed and 504 additional
instances of overcrowding were revealed.
During the year overcrowding was known by the Public Health Department to
have been abated by 793 families, totalling 3,970 persons. There remained, therefore,
2,186 dwellings with a population of 11,020 persons in which overcrowding still