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7
its purely public health aspect, that Is a hope that this Act
will better the living conditions of the residents in the
Borough by Increasing the amount of money landlords spend on
maintaining their property. To what extent has this been
achieved in Hampstead?
The following figure shows the number of certificates
which have been granted since September 1954, and those which
have been revoked. In all 117 certificates have been granted,
but only 16 have been revoked. Looked at optimistically there
would appear to be an increasing number of revocations and It
is the revocations which are of particular interest to the Public
Health Department in that they signify premises which have been
made suitable for occupation and are in good repair. Looked at
from another point of view, however, it would appear that there
are 101 houses where so far repairs have not been carried out.
Certificates of Disrepair, Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954
It is as yet too early to judge the situation for
there has not been sufficient time for landlords to carry out
repairs required before they can Increase the statutory rent.
I should be sorry, however, if a situation arose whereby landlords
put up the statutory rent and if the tenant applies for
a certificate of disrepair, they took no further action, accepting
the previous situation as from their point of view being more
profitable. This, of course, is not the whole story, for where
the defects listed in the certificate constitute a statutory
nuisance, the Council is empowered to serve a notice under the
Public Health Acts and this procedure is followed where necessary.