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for which the Ministry of Health sanctioned a loan of £185,000. The
work was begun in October, and 108 houses were commenced by the
end of the year.
In September the District Council purchased for £1,200 two
houses in William Street which were in course of erection, and they
were completed in October. The Council also made an application to
the Ministry of Health for sanction to purchase for £800 each four
houses which were being erected in Green Wrythe Lane by the
Ex-Service Men's Housing and Provident Society, and this was
granted in January.
In February the plans for the conversion of the Phoenix
Orphanage into working-class flats was approved by the London
Housing Board, and the price of purchase was agreed. It was
proposed that a portion of the building should be used as a Maternity
and Infant Welfare Clinic, and the sanction of the Ministry of Health
was obtained to a loan of £3,166 in respect of the conversion into flats,
and subsequently to a loan of £800 for the establishment of the Clinic ;
the purchase was completed and the work was commenced in
November.
The District Council decided in January to put forward a scheme
under Part III. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, in
respect of Avenue Road, and for the erection of 50 houses in Avenue
Road and Stanley Road. A report was received from the District
Valuer, and steps were taken to acquire the land compulsorily. The
scheme was recommended by the London Housing Board, but the
Ministry of Health decided that it was not one which they could
approve.
The erection of 66 houses at Little Woodcote under the Small
Holdings scheme of the Surrey County Council was commenced, and
eight of them had been completed at the end of the year.
(2) Overcrowding.—At the Census of 1911 there were 39
tenements with more than two occupants per room, with a population
of 337 persons, or 3.3 per cent. of the population in private families.
Figures obtained in the course of the Survey showed that there were
33 houses with more than two persons per room, with a population
of 307 persons. The detailed figures showed comparatively few cases
of serious overcrowding.
During the year the District Council dealt with four cases, in two
of which families were living and sleeping in one room; the conditions
could not be remedied owing to want of alternative accommodation.
In the other two cases the overcrowding was abated by the use of
living-rooms as bedrooms, and in many other instances it was found in
the course of inspection that this method was being adopted.
(3) Fitness of Houses.—About one-half of the working-class
dwellings in the District are of modern construction. Of 1,065
cottages of which particulars were obtained in the Survey, 14
contained two rooms, 27 three rooms, 325 four rooms, 628 five rooms,