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of legal and professional advice and guidance. Where Closing Orders
are made, printed notice is also given to them of their right of appeal
to the County Court.
The majority of the underground rooms in the Borough can be
made to comply if the owner is prepared to undertake the expenditure.
The owner is advised to do the work rather than that the rooms
should be closed, but in some underground rooms it is impracticable for
the areas to be widened, and, therefore, there is no alternative other
than for the rooms to be closed and to provide the tenants with alternative
accommodation. This alternative accommodation is provided by
arrangement with the London County Council.
We find that failure to comply with the statutory requirements as
to underground rooms is almost inevitably bound in practice to result
in unhealthy conditions. In cases where a failure has been a matter
of minor detail, such as a matter merely of failure to comply to the
extent of a few inches of height or width, we have found it possible
to take no action, but it can safely be said that in every case where
steps have been taken in making a Closing Order or requiring the
execution of works or the vacation of the premises, some serious unhealthy
condition has been present in the rooms in question.
(iv) Result of Survey of Basement Rooms so far inspected (January 1st,
1936—June 30th 1937")—