[Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Bedfordshire County Council (County of Bedford).

  • Bedfordshire (England). County Council. n 50055519.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Bedfordshire County Council (County of Bedford). Source: Wellcome Collection.

    83/96 (page 81)
    cSl “ No change of any note has taken place in the population durin the period under review but a considerable influx is expected in the near future, when a large factory is to be opened at Leagravc by Messrs. Electrolux, Ltd. This firm is expected to employ about i,Soo persons “ (i) So far as can be ascertained, there does not appear to be any serious overcrowding in the town. “ (ii) The cause, where overcrowding does exist, appears to arise from the shortage of low-rented small houses. • “ (iii.) To overcome this shortage, the Council have embarked on a scheme for providing i66 houses, ii6 of which are already occupied.” Dr. W. K. Parbury (Bedford Rural Council) : “ In those parishes that lie further away from Bedford and are situated in the agricultural districts, very little building has been undertaken by private enterprise. The result is that in those latter parishes the type of house for the agricultural labourer is poor, and is not conducive to the uprearing of a population under healthy modern requirements. “ 1 consider there is no doubt that there is a shortage of dwelling houses for the working classes in most of the villages in your district. It is not easy to estimate this shortness, as so many of our people leave their villages in which they are born because, firstly, there is not sufficient work for them ; and, secondly, many of them wish to get married and are unable to find houses. I am constantly coming across cases of young people who have got married and live with their parents until a house is found. I think this latter remark applies to the majority of parishes. I have pointed out to your Council from time to time the advisability of erecting houses for the working classes, and I am glad to report that your Council is now building some houses at Roxton, and is contemplating the erection of suitable dwellings in at least two other villages. I have no doubt these will be occupied immediately they are finished.” Dr. H. W. Grattan (Biggleswade Rural District) : “ The grant of a subsidy by the Government has been of considerable advantage. During the period under revision (1921-1925 inclusive) 72 houses have been erected, and the Government subsidy was granted in respect of 51 of these. Notwithstanding this progress there is still a shortage of suitable