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34
housing
Compulsory Repairs.—It was anticipated that the provisions of Section 28 of the Act
of 1919 would be found to be of great value. Unfortunately experience, even with the limited
amount of use of the Section possible with the existing Staff of Department, shows that there
are innumerable doubts as to the interpretation of the Section, much scope for delaying tactics
on the part of owners, and difficulties in the way of executing works when owners fail to
comply with the Notices. The question of recovering the cost of work done on behalf of
defaulting owners was scarcely opened at the end of last year. "Case law" may be expected
to clear up some of the difficulties in connection with the administration of the provisions of
the Section, but the opinion has been formed already that amendments of the Section are
required to secure more prompt execution of repairs. The continuing deficiency in housing
accommodation makes the necessity of putting existing premises in decent repair all the greater.
For the reasons already set out, and owing to insufficiency of Staff, only 55 Notices
under the Section were issued during the past year, as compared with 141 in 1920
(See Table XXV.). During the same period 87 Notices were complied with by the
owners, and in 9 instances contracts were obtained by the Council and the works carried out.
Since the inception of this work in 1919, 196 houses have been "scheduled," 114 of which have
been repaired by the owners and 13 by the Council at the cost of the owners, but, except in one
instance when the Council did the work by agreement with the owner, none of the expenditure
had been recovered at the end of the year.
In March of last year the Medical Officer of Health gave evidence before an Office
Committee of the Housing Department of the Ministry of Health on "Minor Questions arising
under Parts I. and II. of the Housing Act, 1890." The main questions related to operations
under Section 28 of the Act of 1919.
Houses unfit for Habitation.—Action under Section 17 (1) of the Act of 1909—
representations for Closing Orders—is impossible owing to the lack of accommodation for the
families who would be displaced by such Orders. Had housing conditions been more normal
certain of the houses dealt with under Section 28 of the Act of 1919 would have been
represented for closure.
Closing orders with respect to
Cirencester Street, No. 51—Closing Order, 1919 : Demolition Order, 1920; and
Gloucester Mews East, No 68—Closing Order, 1919
were determined, the houses having been made fit for habitation. No. 68 was greatly
improved being almost rebuilt (See also Table XXV.)
The Improvement Scheme for Desborough Street having been rejected by the Ministry
of Health, the houses mentioned in the last Report as under Demolition Orders, viz.,
Nos. 4, 8 and 9, remain as before, i.e. little better than carcases.
Underground Rooms.—These, if used for sleeping, come within the provisions of
Section 96 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, and Section 17 (7) of the Housing Act
of 1909. For the reasons stated in the preceding section of this Report, very little is being
done, only the very worst rooms being taken up. It is known that there are many rooms,
particularly those used as bedrooms for the staffs of the smaller hotels, etc., ought to be dealt
with.
Last year no action was taken under the Public Health Act and only 8 Orders were made
under the Housing Act. Five Orders (including one made in 1919) were determined during
the year, the underground rooms having been brought into conformity with the Regulations
made by the Council under Section 17 (7) of the Housing Act of 1909. The use of the rooms
for sleeping was given up at two houses, the tenants leaving, and in two other instances
proceedings were in progress at the end of the year to secure compliance with the Orders.
(See also Table XXV.).
Tenement Houses.—Although the supervision of these houses was much more complete
last year than in 1919 or 1920 (see Table XXVI.), this work is still much below the præ-war
standard. It requires more time to inspect the property owing to the larger number of defects
requiring attention, there is greater delay in attending to Notices which involves more
frequent re-inspections and it is more difficult to secure satisfactory work so that closer supervision
is necessary. In addition, much of the time of the two Inspectors has been taken up in
connection with Notices under Section 28 of the Housing Act, 1919—Compulsory Repairs.
The number of houses on the Register has remained unchanged at 1,404, a figure which is
believed to represent only a part—a large part—of the houses which should be registered.