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dwellings. Licences were also issued for the rebuilding of war-destroyed
" Cost of Works " houses to provide an additional 22 dwellings.
Private Conversions and Buildings.
During 1951, building licences were issued for the conversion of
large houses by private owners to provide a total of 53 dwellings. The
Council were permitted by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government
to issue licences for the building of 32 dwellings by private enterprise:—8
in Hampstead and 24 in other areas by arrangement with the
local authorities concerned.
The Minister of Housing and Local Government has now given
greater freedom to local authorities in the issuing of building licences to
private persons and has arranged for more licences to be available for
this purpose. Application forms for building licences may be obtained
from the Borough Engineer and Surveyor, Town Hall, N.W.3; each
application submitted to the Council will be considered on its merits from
the point of view of housing need.
Applications for Accommodation.
Accommodation was found by the Council during 1951 for the
families of 189 applicants comprising 593 persons.
The number of families on the waiting list at 31st December, 1951,
was 4,928.
During the year no less than 1,492 housing applications were referred
to my department for a Sanitary Inspector's report as to the urgency of
the case. This is nearly three times the number dealt with during the
previous year. These reports were supplied not only to our own Housing
Estates Department but also to the London County Council and other
Local Authorities, from whom enquiries were received. A large number
of housing applicants base their claims primarily on insanitary conditions,
and appropriate action is taken by the service of sanitary notices where
the complaints are well founded.
Housing Act, 1949. Applications for Mortgages, Improvement
Grants, etc.
Part 1. Amendments of the Housing Act, 1936.
Section 1 removes limitations in the Housing Acts on the powers of
local authorities by the deletion of references to the "working classes"
in all the sections in the Housing Act, 1936, with certain exceptions.
The effect is: —
(a) To make it the duty of the local authority when preparing and
submitting to the Minister proposals for the provision of new houses under
section 71 of the Housing Act, 1936, to consider the housing conditions
and housing needs of all the inhabitants of their district, and to empower
the authority to provide housing accommodation for all members of the
community.
(b) To bring all houses within the ambit of the provisions in Part II
of the Housing Act, 1936, relating to the repair, demolition and closing
of insanitary premises.