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In the case of Lion, Dunworth and Russell Gardens Mews, notices were served under Section 15
of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, which enables a local authority, if the landlord
fails, to enter a dwelling house and themselves carry out such works as may be necessary to
render it in all respects fit for human habitation. The expenses incurred by a local authority in
such work can then be recovered from the landlord in annual instalments. In rural districts
where the demand for houses exceeds the supply, there is a certainty that any cottage which may
be put into good order and repair will continue to be occupied. This of course means that the
landlord of the cottage will receive in rents money wherewith to repay his debt to a local authority
carrying out work under Section 15. In Kensington very large numbers of tenements intended
for the working classes are unoccupied; there is accordingly no strong probability that the repair
and alteration of tenements in such places as Dunworth Mews will lead to their continued occupation,
with the result that certain landlords on receiving notices under Section 15, evict their tenants
rather than incur the expense of extensive repairs which the rents are not sufficient to cover. In
these circumstances there are three courses open to the Council under the Housing Acts, namelv:
(i) to carry out the necessary work and attempt to recover the expenses incurred from a landlord
whose action has expressed the conviction that they will not be met out of the rents received;
(ii) to make a Closing Order, which would in the end entail demolition and prevent once and for
all the adaptation of the premises to some use other than that of human habitation; or (iii) to
lake no further action on the grounds that the premises being vacant, there can no longer be
any breach of the implied contract with the tenant under Section 14 that the premises are in all
respects reasonably fit for habitation.
In the cases under consideration the third course has been followed, and in my view the Council
would not be justified in saddling a landlord, who is content to leave his houses empty, with the cost
of alterations and repairs unless it could be shown that the accommodation was needed and was
likely to be used by the working classes. Neither is it clear that any material advantage would
accrue from the wholesale demolition of premises vacated in these circumstances.
Negotiations with the owner of Nos. 7—13, Colville Mews, made it clear from the outset that
ne intended to evict his tenants rather than carry out the works required. On an undertaking
being given that the premises would no longer be let for human habitation, it was decided that
no notices should be served, and in the end some of the buildings were converted into a Picture
Palace. Had the procedure under Section 15 been strictly followed, the owner would have found
himself either saddled with a heavy debt to the Council and the necessity of finding tenants for
seven renovated mews dwellings, or bound by a Closing Order to forego the opportunity of
converting the houses into business premises and to await the order for their demolition.
It would thus appear that the framers of Sections 14-18 of the Housing Act, 1909, did not
fully appreciate the serious economical difficulties which would be met with in the administration
of these particular sections of the Act in districts where the supply of houses is considerably in
excess of the demand.
General Character of Defects.—Of the 96 houses in reference to which reports were
made to the Housing Sub-Committee during the year, 69 consisted of mews dwellings over stables.
The chief defect found on such premises is in the construction of the staircase, which, instead of
being entered direct from the open air can only be entered from the stable. By means of these
staircases foul effluvia are conducted from the stable beneath to the dwelling rooms above.
Defects in the stable ceiling, in the match boarding partition walls and in the soffits of the staircase
have also been found admitting effluvia to the upper story of the premises. Among other conditions
reported may be mentioned w.c.'s in cramped positions with insufficient light and ventilation, foul
horse-pots of the bell-trap type in the stable floor, and various defects in the drainage system.
Of the mews premises reported during the year as having been dealt with in the manner
indicated in the following Table, 46 were first submitted in 1911, and 23 in 1912:—
Number of mews dwellings reported 69
Number in which no defects were found 9
Number in which defects found were remedied 38
Number which were vacated 22
Eighteen of the premises reported were registered lodging houses, each containing eight
rooms, and in the case of nine houses the rooms were let furnished. The chief defects consisted
in general dilapidations, such as broken floors, hearths, chimney jambs, partition walls and window
fiames, of so extensive a nature as to render the houses unfit for the use of lodgers. Many of
the rooms were verminous, those in the basement were damp, and in certain instances defects in
the drainage system were found. Of these houses all but six in the Bolton Road were submitted
for the first time in 1912, the final results being as follows:—
Number of registered lodging houses reported 18
Number in which defects were remedied 10
Vacant houses represented for Closing Orders 8