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The deputation referred to in the Reso ut on was received by the Public Health Committee of
the County Council in February, 1923, when Councillor Miss Keeling, supported by the other
members mentioned, submitted a carefully prepared argument showing that present legislation is
not sufficient to enable the Council to deal adequately with houses let in lodgings and that the
issue of the new code of by-laws foreshadowed in Section 26 of the 1919 Housing Act is urgently
needed for the purpose of preventing further depreciation in this class of housing accommodation.
The County Council have now adopted a series of new by-laws under the above-mentioned
Section, and it is proposed to forward these to the Minister of Health for his approval after the
various Metropolitan Borough Councils have submitted their observations thereon.
It may be mentioned that the Housing Act of 1919 provided that by-laws for houses let in
lodgings made under Section 26 of that Act, would apply to the whole area of the Administrative
County of London, but Section 14 of the 1923 Housing Act empowers the County Council to
make the by-laws applicable to individual boroughs or parts of boroughs.
RESOLUTION " H."—That renewed representations be made to the Minister of Health and the
London County Council urging that this Council should be em-powered
to license annually such registered houses as are wholly or partially
let in furnished rooms.
A letter was addressed to the Minister of Health in March, 1923, reminding him that
representations were made by the Council to the President of the Local Government Board in
1912 in favour of legislation being promoted to provide for the annual licensing of houses let in
furnished rooms, and intimating that the Council were still of the opinion that such power is
needed in order to enable the Council to exercise satisfactory control over these houses.
No reply has been received to this communication.
RESOLUTION " I."—That Section 28 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919, be put
in force wherever the Public Health Committee advise that specified
premises are suitable to be dealt with under that Section.
Section 28 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919, has not been applied extensively
by the Council in the past. Notices under this Section have been served in respect of 85 premises,
the notices in 54 cases being issued prior to December 31st, 1922, and in the other 31 cases during
the year 1923.
The results of action taken are as follows:—
No. of houses in respect of which Section 28 notices have been served 85
No. of houses in which the repairs have been carried out by the owner 32
No. of houses in which the Council have carried out the work in
default of the owner 5
No. of houses in which repairs have been partially carried out by the
owner at the time of writing (May, 1924) 14
In certain cases there has been total failure to comply with the notices on the part of the
owner, but owing to technical difficulties in connection with these it has been thought wise to have
recourse to the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, and the by-laws thereunder in order to secure
the execution of the works originally embodied in the Section 28 notices.
Amendments to Section 28, made by the Housing Act of 1923, remove many of the
difficulties which previously made the Section almost impossible to enforce. These amendments,
together with the money voted by the Council for improvement purposes, should help considerably
towards securing satisfactory housing conditions in the future.
RESOLUTION "J."—That a sum be provided in next year's Estimates to defray the cost of
works of repair to be carried out to properties under Section 28 of the
Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919, the amounts expended
being recoverable as a charge on the said properties.
Subsequent to the passing of this Resolution, the Council provided in their estimates for the
financial year commencing April 1st, 1923, the sum of £5,000 for the purpose indicated in the
Resolution, and of this amount £303 has been spent during the year.
In two of the five houses repaired at the expense of the Council, the latter are collecting rents
and managing the property; in one case the owner has entered into an agreement to repay the
Council by a series of monthly instalments of £2 each; and in the remaining two the method of
repayment has not yet been settled. During the year the Council recovered £88 of their
expenditure.
The actual amount of money spent has been small, but the results following the provision of
the £5,000 have been large. This ±'5,000 in reserve has enabled the Council to induce the owners
of derelict property to carry out their responsibilities. Without this sum ready to hand in the
case of the refusal on the part of the owners to comply with the notices served by the Sanitary
Inspectors, the Council could not have achieved that success which has attended their efforts in
pressing owners to put their poor class property into a habitable state of repair. There is no doubt
that the actual expenditure of money in the repair of their property by owners, as a result of the
Council's policy, is many times greater than the £5,000 which the Council might have spent.