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64
The dwelling-houses Nos. 19 and 21 Arthur Street were reported
to the Council as being not reasonably fit for human
habitation, and notices under section 15 were ordered to be served
on the owner requiring him to execute the necessary repairs to
the houses. The notices under the Housing Act were subsequently
complied with.
Underground Rooms.
The Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, gives important
powers to Sanitary Authorities in relation to underground
rooms. The Act provides that an underground room that is
habitually used as a sleeping place must be at least seven feet
in height from floor to ceiling, and must comply with such regulations
as the Sanitary Authorities, with the consent of the Local
Government Board, may make. The Public Health Act contained
provisions specified in detail in the Act for preventing the use as
sleeping places of underground rooms separately occupied as
dwellings, but these provisions were rendered practically useless
by the fact that they do not apply if the rooms are at the same
time occupied with a room or rooms on the upper floor.
Regulations were made by the Council as required by the
Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, which were duly approved
by the Local Government Board, and are now in operation in the
Borough.
An inspection of the underground rooms in the Borough,
which was commenced in 1911, was continued during 1912. The
total number of rooms inspected was 113, all of which were found
to be illegally occupied. The structural defects and the number
of rooms in which defects were found were as follows:—
No proper area provided 113
Space beneath floor insufficiently ventilated 113
Site not concreted 113
Other defects 65
In 90 cases the illegal occupation of the rooms was discontinued.
In the remaining cases the owners were called upon to
carry out the necessary structural alterations to make the rooms
comply with the requirements of the Act and the regulations made
thereunder within a reasonable time, and were informed that in
default of compliance closing orders would be made by the Council.
Closing orders were made by the Council in respect of 21 of
underground rooms illegally occupied.