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47
The number of flats and houses erected during the year is :—
Borough Council 134
London County Council 170
Private enterprise 42
The number of municipal flats and houses erected since the war is :—
Borough Council 2,840
London County Council 2,630
The total dwellings in the borough at the end of the year numbered 44,028.
The Rent Act, which came into operation on 6th July this year, freed from rent
control houses and flats above certain levels of rateable value and allowed limited
increases in the rents of houses and flats still under rent control.
It is anticipated that owners will be more ready to repair their properties with
a view to obtaining the rent increases and thus improve the living conditions of their
tenants. This is a landlord and tenant Act and the Council is required, upon
application being submitted, together with the appropriate fee and subject to the
necessary procedure being complied with, to issue or revoke certificates of disrepair
under this statute and details of these cases are given on page 29-30.
The Housing Act, 1957, which came into operation on 1st September this year
is a consolidating statute. It simplifies and consolidates various housing enactments
of recent years. It has repealed and substantially re-enacted the Housing Act, 1936,
together with many provisions of subsequent housing legislation, including in
particular the Housing Act, 1949, the Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954, and
the Slum Clearance (Compensation) Act, 1956.
The effect of the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered in May this year in
relation to Section 18 of the Housing Act, 1957, remains to be seen. The appeal
was heard concerning action taken by another Metropolitan Borough Council under
Section 12 of the preceding Act and the Court of Appeal held that for the making
of a Closing Order in respect of part of a building the local authority shall, in considering
whether the part of a building in quest ion is fit for human habitation,
have regard to the matters set out in Section 9(1) of the Housing Repairs and
Rents Act, 1954—now Section 4 of the Housing Act, 1957. It would appear that
no regard is to be had in future to regulations made by a local authority.
Consequent upon the Borough or County Council, sanctioning improvement
grants in respect of a number of flats on at least two estates considerable work was
carried out, the improvements including the enlargement of the flats in certain cases
and the provision of bathroom and other modern amenities.