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70
SANITARY INSPECTION OF THE
BOROUGH.
The staff of Sanitary Inspectors engaged in District and
Housing duties has been increased during the year by the appointment
of two additional officers and there are now 15 Inspectors
carrying out this work. These two Inspectors, together with the
two appointed in 1929 for housing duties, have been allocated to
districts and there are now 15 districts compared with 11 before
these new appointments were made. Owing to thse increases
in the staff it has been possible to make a material reduction in
the size of the districts, several of which were too large for efficient
working. Each Inspector is responsible for all the work in his
district, other than that in connection with food and food premises,
and for duties under the Housing Acts including house to house
inspection.
Housing Conditions.
There are over 60,000 houses in this Borough and they are of
all types. Generally speaking the standard is good, but it varies
in different districts. Some parts of the Borough are residental
and contain many good class houses of modern construction.
There are several middle class districts where a large portion
of the houses are occupied by their owners. There are a large
number of working class houses about 40 to 50 years old which
are of a good representative type. In some parts of the Borough
the houses occupied by the working classes are between 80 and
100 years old and many of these are difficult to keep in a sound
structural condition. There are also a small number of houses
which can be classified as cottage property of a poor type which
on account of its age and condition is unsuitable for reconditioning.
There is still a shortage of working class houses at a reasonable
rent, and this fact causes a certain amount of overcrowding
among families living in the existing houses. During the last
few years a number of families who were either overcrowded or
were living under conditions of hardship have been accommodated