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37
PART III.
Slum Clearance.
Further progress towards the resumption of slum clearance
was made during 1951 when, following a series of conferences
between the London County Council and the metropolitan borough
councils, a five-year plan embracing the whole of London was
prepared. In preparing this plan it was first necessary to calculate
the amount of alternative accommodation which could be provided
and then, on the basis of the accommodation becoming available,
to decide the number of houses to be cleared. Past experience has
shown that, after making allowances for houses to be cleared in
areas which cannot be redeveloped, the number of new houses
required is approximately twice the number of houses to be
demolished, and this factor considerably limited the extent of the
slum clearance programme which could be undertaken.
The total number of houses to be cleared in the County having
thus been estimated, the next step was to allocate to the various
boroughs the number of houses to be cleared within their areas and,
in view of the limited amount of accommodation expected to become
available, the guiding principle was to deal first with the worst
areas, priority being given on an overall County basis, a procedure
which inevitably produced some disparity in the allocations to
the various boroughs.
So far as Hackney is concerned it is considered that only 93
houses are in so bad a condition as to require clearance within the
next five years, and of this number it is proposed that the London
County Council should deal with 69 and the Borough Council with
the remaining 24.
Inspections of certain of the areas which the Borough Council
is to clear were in progress at the end of the year preparatory to
the areas being represented in 1952.
PART IV.
Overcrowding .
The number of statutably overcrowded dwellings in the borough
continues to decrease, and at the end of the year there were 732
on the register, a reduction of 247 as compared with the previous
year.
The number of new cases reported during the year was 204, a
reduction of 196, whilst the number of cases of overcrowding
relieved, 451, was 115 more than in 1950.
From time to time investigations reveal premises which are
overcrowded in such circumstances as to render the landlord and/or