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House to House Inspection.—Article 19 (3) of the Sanitary Officers (London) Order,
1891, imposes on every Sanitary Inspector the duty of systematically inspecting his district at
certain periods with a view to keeping himself informed of the nuisances existing therein
that require abatement. Section 32 of the Housing Act, 1890, imposed a similar duty on inspectors
for the special purpose of examining dwelling houses as to their fitness for human habitation, but
prior to the end of the year 1910, there were no regulations prescribing the manner in which such
inspections were to be made. In the autumn of the year 1910, regulations were issued which are
so drawn as to limit the meaning of the phrase "inspection for the purpose Section 32 of the Housing
Act, 1890, or of sub section (1) of Section 17 of the Act of 1909" to the examination of houses
which have been formally represented by the Medical Officer of Health as requiring early inspection.
Before such representations are made, large numbers of careful preliminary inspections over a wide
area must be made, and these have not been shown in the summary of the year's work under the
new regulations. The total number of "house to house inspections" during the year for the combined
purposes of the Sanitary Officers Order so far as it relates to nuisance in dwelling houses and of
the Housing Acts has amounted to 2,550. In this number, visits in response to complaints or to
registered lodging houses have not been included, and as in former years the term "house to house
inspection" has again been used to denote systematic visits to dwelling houses for the purpose of
detecting nuisances which in certain cases are of such a nature as to lead to the premises being
placed by the Medical Officer of Health on the periodical lists of unsatisfactory dwellings, in
accordance with the requirements of Art. I. (3) of the Housing (Inspection of District) Regulations,
1910.
Underground Rooms.—Nine underground rooms were found to be illegally occupied during
the year. In each case the illegal occupation ceased on the service of a notice, and in no instance
was it found necessary to close the rooms or to institute legal proceedings. Comprehensive action
is being deferred until the Local Government Board have sanctioned the bye-laws regulating
underground rooms which the Council have drafted in pursuance of the powers conferred by
Section 17 of the new Housing Act.
Customs and Inland Revenue Acts.-Under these Acts 31 certificates were issued by the
Medical Officer of Health during the year, in respect to 59 tenements in 31 houses containing a total
number of 70 separate dwellings. One certificate was granted under Section 35 of the Housing
Act, 1909, which entitles the owner of a Common Lodging House to exemption from inhabited
house duty, provided the Medical Officer of Health is able to certify that suitable accommodation
and proper sanitary provision is available for the lodgers.