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44
Rent Act 1957
The Rent Act 1957 cams into force on 6 July, 1957, and the
following table shows the applications for certificates of disrepair dealt
with during the year 1958:—
Table 31
Applications for certificates 420
Decisions not to issue certificates 8
Decisions to issue certificates
(а) in respect of some but not all the defects 279
(б) in respect of all defects 97
Undertakings given by, landlords to repair 223
Undertakings refused for special reasons —
Certificates of disrepair issued 266
Applications by landlords for cancellation of certificates 160
Objections by tenants to cancellation 49
Decisions to cancel in spite of tenants' objection 7
Certificates cancelled 117
In his report on work under the Housing Acts, Mr. Craven, the
group housing inspector, states :— "A noticeable feature of the year
under review was the impact of owner-occupation on the work of the
housing section. From observations and information reaching the
Department in various ways it is clear that there has been in the last 4
to 5 years a rapid and significant increase in the number of houses in this
class of ownership. This is obviously very desirable from the point of
view of maintenance of property in good condition, but it has had the
effect of switching the emphasis from certain Housing Act duties to
others. To some extent this trend was discovered during a survey of
older properties, carried out in the middle of the year, in connection
with the clearance programme for the years 1961-1965. Included in
this survey were certain groups of houses, previously noted as borderline
cases, where it was found that the general condition of several of
the properties had been greatly improved following purchase by
sitting tenants, or which otherwise had become owner-occupied. Instances
of increased activity, again because of this factor, were in
connection with mortgage applications to the Council, where some of the
properties concerned were subject to other Housing Act procedures,
and also in the number of improvement grant applications from
owner-occupiers. Many of the latter related to smaller single family
dwellings, between 50-60 years of age in reasonably good condition
but merely lacking modern amenities.
"Referring to the comment in the 1957 report regarding the
reduction in the number of improvement grant enquiries and
applications for conversion of larger properties, which was thought to