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37
HOUSING.
During the year the council's sanitary inspectors inspected under the Public Health (London)
Act, 1891, and the Housing Acts, 6,764 houses, and the total number of inspections made was 34,468.
Public Health (London) Act, 1891.
The number of written intimation notices served in respect of defects or nuisances in dwellings
was 2,428. In the vast majority of cases the work required was carried out without further action
on the part of the council but it was necessary to serve 494 statutory notices and 146 final notices,
and 22 summonses were eventually issued. The following is a list of the major improvements
secured:—
Houses cleansed 1,570
House drains reconstructed 89
Defective drains repaired 162
House drains cleansed 247
Water closets reconstructed, repaired, etc. 393
,, supplied with water 129
,, (new) provided 348
Soil pipes ventilated, repaired, etc. 150
,, (new) provided 136
Baths (new) provided 549
Sinks (new) provided 587
Taps fixed on rising main 39
Cisterns cleansed, covered, etc. 69
Yards, areas, paved, drained, repaired 256
Dustbins provided 353
Ashpits abolished 4
Accumulations of filth, etc., removed 252
Roofs repaired 391
Houses provided with water above basement floor 47
Dampness in dwellings remedied 387
Bylaws for Houses Let in Lodgings.
During the year 11 houses were placed on the council s register of houses let in lodgings, and 15
were removed. The total number on the register at the end of the year was 3,155. A systematic
and detailed examination of 912 of these houses was made. The total number of inspections of
houses let in lodgings during the year was 10,560. (This number is included in the total inspections
for the year given above.)
Outside improvement areas (which are dealt with later), 21 cases of overcrowding were discovered
in houses let in lodgings. Written intimation notices secured an abatement of the overcrowding
in every case but four, in which statutory notices were served. It was necessary to take proceedings
in three cases. Indecent occupation (persons of the opposite sexes over the age of 12 years not
living together as husband and wife, but sleeping in the same bedroom) was found in 12 cases.
These cases were remedied by the service of 12 intimation and five statutory notices.
The number of houses cleansed under the by-laws for houses let in lodgings was 908.
Section 17 of the Housing Act, 1930.
Unfit Houses Repairable at Reasonable Cost.

During the past 12 years, 1,114 houses have been reconditioned under Housing Act procedure,
and of this number no fewer than 752 have been repaired within the last five years, during which time
certain officers of the public health department have concentrated their time entirely upon this class
of work.
The expenditure incurred by the council in carrying out work in cases where the owners have
defaulted has reached the total of £3,356 16s. 6d. Of this sum, £3,289 5s. 6d. has been recovered,
and the outstanding amount with interest is now being collected.