View report page

75
From this excess of marriages over accommodation becoming
available, it follows that in addition to the conversion of older
properties into unsatisfactory units of accommodation, increased
overcrowding will also result thus tending to aggravate the already
grave housing situation.
One measure appears to give some hope of alleviation, if not
complete solution to the problem, and this has been advocated often
in other areas. It is that it should be made possible in certain
instances for tenants of Council-owned property to purchase their
houses ; this would result in a reduction of the Council's outstanding
housing debts and the interest paid thereon and maintenance of
these properties would no longer be the Council's responsibility.
Saving on a scheme of this description would doubtless do much to
enable the Council to build more accommodation subsidised sufficiently
to bring the rent within the range of the ordinary man. This latter
course would be productive of another favourable feature. It is that
' pride of possession' almost invariably leads to a sense of 'civic
pride a quality that is of immense importance in public health
administration.
According to the rate books there were 21,862 inhabited and
85 uninhabited dwellings in the Borough on 31st December, 1950,
and in any general survey of t he housing conditions of the Borough
the following points should be borne in mind:
(a) Many of these properties are dilapidated and outworn and in
more normal times would undoubtedly have been dealt with
under the Housing Act.
(b) Of the remainder, a fair proportion are deteriorating for these
reasons:—
(i) Neglect occasioned by high cost of repairs in relation
to controlled rents.
(ii) Shortage of certain building materials allocated for
maintenance work.
(c) Much of the older property does not lend itself satisfactorily
to conversion into the type of accommodation in demand at
the present time. Until there is a significant increase in the
provision of new dwellings it is essential that the existing
housing standards should be maintained and prevented from
deteriorating.
It is not surprising, therefore, to find that an undue proportion
of the Sanitary Inspector's time is absorbed in routine complaints
and re-visits instead of in preventive functions which would ensue
from house-to-house inspection of his district.