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The following table gives details of the action taken from
the date of operation of the Act until the end of the year:
No. of Applications for Certificates of Disrepair 414
No. of Undertakings received from landlords 220
No. of Certificates of Disrepair issued 105
No. of Certificates refused 3
No. of Certificates cancelled 16
In addition to the above 5 Certificates of Disrepair were
issued under the Housing Repairs and Rents Act (i.e. from
1st January to July 1957), and 1 application for a Certificate
was refused.
Housing Act, 1957
This Act, which came into operation on the Ist September,
1957, did not introduce anything new but consolidated the
enactments relating to housing with the exception of certain
provisions relating to financial matters.
Individual Unfit Houses
Details of the action taken in relation to individual unfit
houses and parts of buildings appear on pages 52-53 in the statistical
appendix to this report. Little difficulty has been experienced
in dealing with those dwellings that are capable of being rendered
fit for human habitation at a reasonable expense, but, in those
instances where Closing Orders are indicated, the problem arises
as to the rehousing of the occupants. There is no statutory
obligation on the part of the local authority to provide alternative
accommodation for the persons so displaced, but the Council
has always given special consideration to this matter and a
Sub-Committee has been formed comprising representatives of
both the Public Health and Housing Management Committees
to deal with each case on its merits to ensure on the one hand
that no unnecessary strain is put on an already overloaded
housing list and on the other, that no undue hardship is imposed
on the occupants of dwellings which become the subject of
Closing Orders.
This problem is further complicated by the fact that when
a Closing Order has been made and the occupants rehoused by
the Council, there is nothing to prevent the owner from repairing
the premises and applying for the determination of the Closing
Order with a view to either selling the property with vacant
possession (which greatly enhances its market value) or reletting
it at a considerably higher rent. In either case, it would seem
that making a Closing Order and rehousing the occupants might
often prove to be of some benefit to the owner, but if the Council