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is not to a Court but to the Local Government Board. Section 17
places an obligation upon the sanitary authority to make from time to
time inspection of their district to ascertain whether any dwelling house
it unfit for human habitation, and the authority and their officers must
comply with such regulations and keep such records as the Board may
prescribe. The Board have not yet prescribed the regulations and
records, but as they state in a memorandum on the Act that they attach
much importance to this provision, no doubt these documents will soon
be issued. If the authority think that any dwelling house is unfit for
human habitation they may make a closing order on that house. The
owner, within 14 days after the order is served upon him, may
appeal to the Local Government Board. The provision is an important
alteration of the law relating to closing orders. Hitherto the sanitary
authority has been obliged to apply to a magistrate for a closing order,
but under this Act, however, the sanitary authority make the closing
order themselves, subject to an appeal to the Local Government Board.
One of the most important provisions of the Act is that relating to
underground rooms. Under the Public Health Act, underground rooms
cannot be occupied separately as dwellings unless they comply with
certain provisions which are specified in detail in the Act. These,
however, do not apply if the rooms are occupied with a room or rooms
on an upper floor. The new Act provides that every underground room
that is habitually used as a sleeping place must be at least seven feet in
height on an average from floor to ceiling and must comply with such
regulations as the sanitary authority, with the consent of the Local
Government Board may make.
The Public Health Committee have considered the making of the
regulations relating to underground sleeping rooms, and have recommended
that the following regulations be submitted to the Local
Government Board for approval:—
(a) The room shall have at least three feet of its height above the surface of
the street or ground adjoining or nearest to the room: Provided that, if
the width of the area hereinafter mentioned be not less than the height
of the room from the floor to the said surface of the street or ground, the
height of the room above such surface may be less than three feet, but
it shall not in any case be less than one foot, and the width of the area
need not in any case be more than six feet.