View report page

30
SECTION VIII.—HOUSING.
During the year I have had frequent enquiries for adequate accommodation;
parents with two, three or four children have been living in one room
only, both day and night. During the last few years the Council have put up
232 houses at an average cost of £1,679 per house.
I have already, under Infectious Disease referred to the numbers of people
in houses infected with scarlet fever and diphtheria during the past three
years; 1,100 such houses had an average population of 7.1 against the census
(1921) figure of 5.5 for the whole district.
As regards Tuberculosis, there were 1,036 persons in 767 rooms in the
houses affected, giving an average of 0.74 room each person; the corresponding
census figure for the whole district was 0.95.
In the Report to the Education Committee, I point out that from several
aspects there is a relapse to those conditions of uncleanliness which the School
Medical Service have been striving against for years—to my mind, a serious
relapse.
Looked at simply from these two points of view, namely infectious illnesses
and uncleanliness, I consider that the housing problem is an urgent one, and is
related directly to the physical health of the individual.
The following are the particulars of the year's work in connection with
housing:—
I.-Number of New Houses erected during the Year.
(a) Total 24
(b) As part of a Municipal Housing Scheme o
II—Unfit Dwelling Houses.
I. Inspection:—
(1) Total number of dwelling-houses inspected for housing
defects (under Public Health or Housing Acts) 1265
(2) Number of dwelling-houses which were inspected and
recorded under the Housing (Inspection of District)
Regulations, 1910 72
(3) Number of dwelling-houses found to be in a state so
dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for
human habitation 1