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Act, 1891, no notices being served specifically under the
Housing and Town Planning Act. During the course of our
inspections an attempt on the part of the landlord to contract
himself out of the operation of Section 15 has been discovered
by having inserted on the front page of the rent book the
following agreement :—" It is agreed that the premises are
now reasonably fit for human habitation, and that in the
event of anything occurring that reasonably renders them
unfit for human habitation the tenant agrees to give the landlord
written notice thereof, which notice shall specify the
particular defects complained of so that they may be
remedied, and if anything should occur by reason of such
tenants the" landlord shall not be responsible therefor unless
they shall have failed to remedy the defects within three
weeks of last notice. No overcrowding of the house is
allowed, and no lodgers are to be taken without the consent
of the landlord. Tenant agrees to repair broken windows."
Whether this agreement would hold good in the Courts
still remains to be seen.
Housing and Town Planning Act.
Number of houses inspected and of which records were made
during 1911, 478.
Number of houses inspected in respect of which notices were
served, 442.
Number of houses inspected in respect of which landlords
elected to close instead of complying with the notices,
45.
Number of houses inspected in respect of which notices were
satisfactorily complied with, 323.
Number of houses in respect of which notices remained undisposed
of at 31st December, 1911, 74.
Number of houses in respect of which closing orders were
made by the Magistrate, nil.