[Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City.

  • Leeds City Council
Date:
1937
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    264/308 (page 234)
    In the year under review the beds in the 14 men’s lodging-houses were occupied on 279,476 occasions, the average number of beds vacant nightly being 219. The women’s lodging-house at 9, Railway Street was closed on August 14th, 1937. Common lodging-houses for men demolished under slum clearance schemes during the year were 22, Castle Street, and 20, Saxton Lane, thus reducing the number of beds by 71. As many of the common lodging-houses stand in areas included in the Corporation’s programme of slum clearance, it may be anticipated that there will be a considerable reduction in the present total within the next few years. Already in consequence of slum clearance 13 houses (men) and 4 houses (women) no longer exist. To compensate for this loss the Housing Committee is building a hostel with accommodation for both sexes in Beeston Road. This hostel is now nearing completion and will be opened before the end of the year. During the year seven changes of deputy keeper have taken place. The table on page 233 sets forth the work carried out in respect of common lodging-houses during 1937. Houses-let-in-Lodgings.—The control of this type of house continues to be a difficult problem and frequent inspections are necessary. The number of statutory notices served for breaches of the byelaws was 60 and of these 52 were complied with. In addition, 16 statutory notices were served for nuisances, etc., under the Public Health Act, all of which were complied with. At the end of the year 82 houses with 600 rooms were on the register. Owing to the amended provisions of the Housing Act, 1936, with respect to houses-let-in-lodgings, these 82 houses had to be re-registered in accordance with the Act. During the year 37 houses were found on inspection to come within the control of the byelaws. Of these 29 have been closed or are now occupied by one family, and the remaining 8 houses are being dealt with. There have also been visited 67 houses, with 438 rooms, occupied by persons other than the working classes. Details of the work in connection with houses-let-in-lodgings will be found in the table on page 233. University Lodgings.—As in previous years the usual procedure has been followed and the lodgings on the register of approved premises for the use of University students were duly inspected and the results reported to the University Authorities. In this connection the following details are given :—