View report page

107
of each case. The Borough Treasurer also perused the
documents in detail before the cases were considered by
the Lettings Sub-Committee and made his observations
as to the ability or otherwise of the applicants to pay the
required rents.
The applications were classified into those suitable
for two, three, four or live roomed flats, those not recommended,
and doubtful cases. They were then brought
before the Committee, who were actually responsible for
the decisions as to accommodation.
Before the tenants were actually accommodated the
Borough Treasurer also had to verify the earnings of the
applicants. The individual flats were allocated to the
successful tenants jointly by the Borough Treasurer and
the Medical Officer of Health.
Tenants were allocated to flats which were deemed
to be sufficient for their reasonable needs, taking into
consideration the ages and sexes of the children and the
bedroom accommodation required and were not given
accommodation in excess of their requirements; the flats
containing four or five rooms were therefore reserved
for applicants with large families.
The main object of the housing scheme is to accommodate
families who are either overcrowded or are living
under bad housing conditions. Those who are already
adequately accommodated and are suffering from no
special hardship are not eligible. A point on which the
sub-committee lay great stress is that the flats are not
intended for families whose incomes are so high that the
Council are not justified in providing them with subsidised
accommodation; many families with grown-up
sons or daughters are able to provide suitable accommodation
for themselves. Families with low incomes are
given preferential consideration provided they can pay
the necessary rents. Unfortunately, however, many
applicants have had to be refused accommodation because
their incomes were so low that the rentals, added to other
necessary expenses, would be too much of a drain on
their resources. If such families were accepted they