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Inspections of Mews Dwellings.—There are just over two thousand mews dwellings in the
borough and in 1925 the sanitary inspectors commenced the work of inspecting and bringing
these habitations up to a reasonable standard of habitability. By the end of the year 1928, 1,189
had been dealt with; during the year 1929, forty-seven were inspected, and thirty-four written
intimation notices were served.
The routine inspections may be considered to be completed as far as is necessary, for most
of the mews dwellings remaining uninspected are in South Kensington and are in a satisfactory
condition or have in recent years been converted into private houses which are let at good rentals
to people of the professional or semi-professional classes.
Closing Orders.—Seventy-nine underground rooms were submitted to routine inspection;
three of these were reported to the Public Health Committee as not complying with the Council's
regulations and in each case a Closing Order was issued.
Work under Section 3 of the Housing Act, 1925.—Section 28 of the 1919 Act(now repealed)
provided that if the owner of a house suitable for the working classes failed to keep it in all respects
reasonably fit for habitation, the Council could require him to execute such works as were necessary.
The owner could appeal and might, in certain circumstances, close the house; but if he neither
exercised his rights nor carried out the repairs, the Council could do the work and recover the cost
thereof with interest.
Section 28 has been replaced by Section 3 of the Housing Act, 1925, which, in addition to
giving powers similar to those under Section 28, grants to the Council the powers and remedies
of a mortgagee under the Conveyancing Acts, 1881-1922, for the purpose of recovering their
expenses.
In the early part of 1929, it was found that the staff could not, owing to the complicated
procedure laid down in the Section, deal with more than several cases at one time and, in consequence
of arrears of work accumulating, an additional clerk was appointed to attend to the
volume of clerical work on hand. The clerk commenced duty in the beginning of August and
a general speeding-up in the service of Section 3 notices has resulted.
Before the new clerk entered upon his task, nineteen notices had been served in the first seven
months of the year. From August to the end of the year, a further seventy-five notices were served.
The following table gives a statement of the action taken and the results obtained during the
year
Number of houses in respect of which Section 3 notices were served 94
Number of houses in which repairs were completed satisfactorily during
the year by the owners 16
Number of houses in which the Council carried out the repairs in default
of the owners 2
Number of houses where the work was in satisfactory progress by the
owner at the end of the year 54
In eight cases where the owners had failed to comply with the notices during the time
allowed, tenders were invited with a view to the work being carried out on behalf of the Council;
in all but two of these the owners finally carried out the work themselves. The majority of the
notices were served in the latter part of the year and the time allowed had not expired in a number
of these on the 31st December.
During 1929, there were no appeals made by owners to the Ministry of Health in respect of
notices served in the year; but in 1928, an owner appealed to the Minister in respect of notices
served on four of his houses, and in January, 1929, the Minister issued an order confirming the
Council's action and ordering the appellant to pay costs. The Council eventually accepted a
tender for the work to be carried out on their behalf and subsequently made application to the
owner for payment of their expenses. In December, 1929, the owner appealed to the Minister
of Health in respect of the amount charged for the work and on the 7th April, 1930, the Minister
dismissed this appeal.
On the introduction of Section 3 of the 1925 Act, the Council's position was rendered more
secure and they felt justified in using this section more frequently. Up to the end of 1929, the
houses in regard to which notices have been served under Section 28 of the 1919 Act or Section 3
of the 1925 Act numbered 242. In only eighteen cases has it been necessary for the Council
themselves to carry out the repair work on failure by the owner, and in these the total expenditure
by the Council has been £2,333. Of this amount, £1,339 has been recovered and the remaining
£994, with interest, is now being received in instalments. There is no reason to believe that the
Council will not be fully reimbursed in all cases.