View report page

- 44 -
connected to a sink as well as to the bath or shower and. wash-hand
basin (Section 4(5)).
The works which may qualify for grant are such works for the
improvement of a dwelling as are required to provide it with such of the
standard amenities as it lacks and "improvement" bears the meaning given
to it by Section 42(2) of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1958.
Thus to the direct cost of installing, say, a bath or wash-hand basin
there may be added the cost of any necessary structural alterations and
consequent redecoration; while in some cases it may be impracticable
to do the work without removing and replacing elsewhere an existing
facility such as a sink or foodstore. The test to be applied in
considering whether expenditure on any particular work is eligible for
grant is whether it would in all the circumstances have been reasonably
practicable to equip the dwelling with the amenities it lacked without
carrying out that work.
No application for a standard grant can be entertained if the
dwelling concerned was provided after the end of 1944, with one exception.
If the dwelling was produced by conversion and the original building was
erected before the end of 1944 then provided the conversion was completed
not later than the end of 1958, the dwelling will be eligible for standard
grant purposes (Section 4(6)).
As under the existing discretionary grant scheme, for grant to
be payable the approval of the authority must be obtained before work is
begun and the work must be done to their satisfaction (Section 4(l)).
Prom the time the Act came into force until the end of the year,
only two applications for standard grants were received. In each case
the statutory conditions were not complied with and the application was
refused.
Overcrowding
In view of the shortage of housing accommodation, created by the
war, the Council had up to last year operated the overcrowding provisions
of the Housing Acts under a special scheme. In November, 1958, however,
it was decided to deal with all cases of overcrowding on the strict
interpretation of the standards laid down in the Housing Act, 1957s
distinguishing between "penal" and "non penal" cases.
A review of all the known cases of overcrowding which the Public
Health Committee had, under their previous scheme, regarded as less serious
was undertaken during the year and it was found that in 573 cases the
overcrowding had been abated.
The number of new cases of overcrowding reported to the Committee
during 1959 was 262, giving an equivalent number of persons of 1,035½. Of
these overcrowding was abated in 100 cases. Thus the total number of
overcrowding cases which were recorded during the year as having been abated
was 673, comprising a total of 2,559½ units.
Assessment of Housing Priorities on Medical Grounds
During the year 143 applications for re-housing on medical grounds
were examined, and recommendations for the award of additional points were
made to the Chief Housing Officer. In each case the precise medical
condition and resultant disability were determined (frequently necessitating
communication with the family doctor or with the hospital attended). The
premises were inspected in detail to ascertain the extent and nature of the
existing accommodation; the adequacy of day and sleeping space; the risk of
infection; the existence of remediable or irremediable sanitary or structural
defects, and the existence of inconveniences, such as stairs which might be
prejudicial to the patient.
On this information and that supplied by the Chief Housing Officer,