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PART IV (Abatement of Overcrowding)
(a) (i) Number of dwellings overcrowded at the end of the year 732
(ii) Number of families dwelling therein 1,156
(iii) Number of persons dwelling therein 4,755
(b) Number of new cases of overcrowding reported during the year 136
(c) (i) Number of cases of overcrowding relieved during the year 136
(ii) Number of persons concerned in such cases 673
(d) Particulars of any cases in which dwelling-houses have again
become overcrowded after the local, authority have taken
steps for the abatement of overcrowding NIL
The continual movement of population during and since the war years has
made it impossible to maintain the overcrowding records with complete accuracy
and failing a systematic survey similar to that undertaken in the Borough in
1935-1936 the extent of overcrowding can only be estimated in relation to
enquiries received for housing accommodation by the London County Council, the
Hackney Borough Council and the Public Health Department. In these circumstances
the pre-War figures relating to overcrowding have been deemed to be of
no value in assessing the extent of overcrowding prevailing at the present time,
and the figures quoted refer only to cases of overcrowding which have come to
the notice of the Department since 1945, as a result of applications made to
the various housing authorities and through the medium of reports from
sanitary inspectors and health visitors and from enquiries received in the
Public Health Department. This has been considered the most practicable
method of arriving at a current register, bearing in mind the probability that
most families recorded in the overcrowding register before 1945 will have
renewed their applications more recently.
The number of overcrowded dwellings on the register at the end of the
year was 732, a figure which was the same as for the previous year since
although overcrowding was abated in 136 dwellings the same number of new overcrowded
dwellings was entered on the register. Overcrowding in 100 dwellings
was abated by rehousing, in 68 instances by the London County Council and in
32 instances by the Borough Council. In the remaining dwellings the overcrowding
was abated by families removing privately, or by marriages, deaths, etc., in
the families concerned.
In addition to these dwellings in which overcrowding as defined by Section
58 of the Act was found to exist, there were again many families sharing
accommodation which, when related to the total number of occupants of the
dwelling, was not statutorily overcrowded. Shared accommodation, with its
attendant inconvenience and discomfort, and resulting, as it so often does, in
discord and mental strain, constitutes a social problem of no small magnitude
which will not be solved until housing accommodation sufficient to provide
each family with a separate dwelling is available.
PART V (Provision of Housing Accommodation)
New dwellings completed by the Council totalled 357, and a further 263
dwellings were under construction at the end of the year. Since 1920 a total
of 4,181 dwellings including 657 temporary hutments and bungalows have been
completed. Seventy-five temporary hutments were demolished during the year.
At the end of the year 1,918 properties housing 3,628 families were held under
requisitioning powers.
The London County Council has since 1920 erected some 4,000 units of
living accommodation.
Housing Applications. New applications for housing accommodation added to
the Council's Housing Department's register totalled 2,000, and at the end of
the year 6,402 applicants were on the register.