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in the past, but on the value of the land for housing purposes and
in the absence of an agreement as to the compensation to be paid
the amount was fixed by an independent arbitrator.
Although systematic inspections under the Housing and Town
Planning Regulations were carried out in Hackney between the
years 1921 and 1927 the first real attempt to deal with housing on
a large scale was made in 1928 when, after the Housing Act, 1925,
which gave many additional powers to the Council, became operative,
a complete survey of the borough was made and a 34-paged
Housing Manual containing detailed reports and maps of ten
large unhealthy areas in the borough was prepared. This report
was considered at joint meetings of the Public Health and Housing
Committees and forwarded to the Ministry of Health and London
County Council, and in 1929 particulars of the following four of
the areas concerned were ' 'represented'' by me to the London
County Council as unhealthy areas, in pursuance of my duties
under the powers contained in the Housing Act, 1925:—
The Council were informed that the London County Council
had agreed to deal with these areas by means of an Improvement
Scheme, which would accommodate the population of the areas
within the borough.
An official "representation" was also placed before the Council
with regard to property in the neighbourhood of Banister Street.
The "representations" and particulars of the inspections of the
areas were referred to the Housing Committee in order that the
matter might be considered from the point of view of the preparation
of an Improvement Scheme.
In that year a new Housing Bill was placed before Parliament
and further action was deferred until the Bill passed into law under
the title of the Housing Act, 1930, often referred to as the "Slum
Clearance Act.'' This Act gave increased financial assistance ' 'to
meet the economic difficulty of rehousing for inhabitants of slums
at rents which they can afford" and also required local authorities
to submit plans of their slum clearance proposals to the Minister
at five-yearly intervals. Since this Act there have been progressive
improvements in assistance by way of Government subsidies.
A further survey was carried out in Hackney in 1930 and formed
the basis of the first five-year programme which was adopted by
the Council in that year.
Duncan Square Area 88 Buildings
North wold Road Area 151 ,,
Warburton Square Area 192 ,,
Morning Lane Area 117 ,,
Total" 548