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the way to permanent unfitness and the owners have less and less
incentive to maintain them properly as they fall behind modern standards.
In considering a scheme of improvement or conversion submitted for grant,
only one question may properly be asked, namely, whether it will produce
a satisfactory modernised dwelling complying with the statutory conditions
and the specified requirements.
The requirements which the Minister of Housing and Local
Government has specified for a dwelling in respect of which an
improvement grant may be made are as follows:-
The dwelling must, after improvement or conversion
1. be in a good state of repair and substantially
free from damp;
2. have each room properly lighted and ventilated;
3. have an adequate supply of wholesome water laid
on inside the dwelling;
4. be provided with efficient and adequate means
of supplying hot water for domestic purposes;
5. have an internal or otherwise readily accessible
water closet;
6. have a fixed bath (or shower) preferably in a
separate room;
7. be provided with a sink or sinks and with
suitable arrangements for the disposal of waste
water;
8. have a proper drainage system;
9. be provided in each room with adequate points for
gas or electric lighting (where reasonably
available);
10. be provided with adequate facilities for heating;
11. have satisfactory facilities for storing,
preparing and cooking food;
12. have proper provision for the storage of fuel
(where required).
Section 16 of the Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954, made
certain amendments in the statutory conditions attached to the payment
of improvement grants under Part II of the Housing Act, 1949, and
(together with Section 37 of the new Act) altered the arrangements for
fixing the maximum rent of dwellings on which grant is paid.
Under the Act of 1949, a dwelling had to be considered to
provide satisfactory accommodation for at least thirty years in order
to attract the grant. The 1954 Act reduced that period to "more than
fifteen years" with the added condition that the Minister or the local
authority - as the case may be - should be satisfied "that it is
expedient in all the circumstances that the proposals or application
should be approved."
Section 16 removed altogether the requirement that schemes
of improvement or conversion must not cost more than £800 per dwelling;
and provides instead a maximum grant of half the cost of the work per
dwelling or £400, whichever is the less.
Local authorities may, with the Minister's concurrence, pay
a higher grant in any case in which they consider the circumstances
justify it.
Section 37 extends the duty of local authorities to fix
maximum rents for grant-aided dwellings within the rateable value limits
of the Rents Acts. They are now required to fix a maximum rent for all
such dwellings, whether let or not, with the exception of one class,
namely, those which have been let for the first time since 1st September,
1939, and for which a reasonable rent has been fixed by a rent tribunal
under the Landlord and Tenant (Rent Control) Act, 1949. A rent fixed
by a rent tribunal under that Act for a dwelling improved with the aid