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37
Closing Orders.
Four Closing Orders under Section 12 of the Housing Act,
1936, were made during the year, two in respect of basement rooms,
one in respect of two semi-basement rooms, and one in respect of
four rooms on first and second floors.
Demolition Orders.
During 1950, one house was demolished under Section 11 of
the Housing Act, 1936, the Demolition Order having been made during
the previous year. One such Order was also made by the Council
in 1950 in respect of a dwelling house, as it was considered that repairs
could not be carried out at a reasonable cost, but the time allowed
for compliance had not expired at the end of the year.
Houses Let in Lodgings.
No special action was taken in respect of such houses.
Overcrowding.
268 cases of overcrowding were discovered during the year, 165
in consequence of applications for housing accommodation made to
this Council, and 103 to the London County Council.
Ninety-two overcrowded families were rehoused during the year,
33 by this Council and 59 by the London County Council.
During 1949 a case of overcrowding occurred where it appeared
that the circumstances were such as to give rise to an offence against
the relevant provisions of the Housing Act, 1936, and proceedings
were taken under Section 59 (1) of the Act. A fine of 10s. was
imposed by the Magistrate with 10s. costs, but -the overcrowding was
not abated, and the Housing Committee gave instructions that the
case should be deferred for six months. This period expired early in
1950, and the Housing Committee then instructed that proceedings for
possession be taken under Section 66 of the Act. Before a summons
was issued, however, the two families concerned obtained additional
accommodation in the same house, thus abating the overcrowding, and
no further action was taken.
Housing Accommodation Applications.
All applications made to the Council are normally dealt with by
the Housing Manager, who refers to me those cases in which the
application is based wholly or partly on medical grounds. These cases
include applications for transfer from Council tenants and licensees
of requisitioned premises. He also refers certain cases in which some
special feature is involved (e.g., fitness of basement rooms).
At the end of 1949 the Council adopted a " Points Scheme " to
deal with applications for housing accommodation. Under this scheme,
points are allocated by the Housing Manager for statutory overcrowding
; bedroom deficiency; lack of a separate home, etc., and he still
refers cases of ill-health and unsuitable accommodation, for which
points up to a maximum of 10 can be allocated under each heading.
Each case is placed in a group according to the number of
bedrooms required by the family. Cases with the highest number of
points in each group are submitted to the Housing Committee for
instructions.