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18
HEATING APPLIANCES (FIREGUARDS) ACT, 1952.
This Act came into operation on the 23rd March, 1953 and regulations made thereunder came into operation on the
1st October, 1953.
Briefly the regulations require fireguards to be fitted to gas fires, electric fires and oil heaters which are so designed
that they are suitable for use in residential premises and are of such a type that, without a guard, there is a likelihood
of injury by burning. The standards of construction and fitting for guards and the tests to be employed in ascertaining
whether guards comply with those standards are set out in the schedule to the regulations. Heating appliances, other
than imported appliances, manufactured before the date of the coming into operation of the regulations and not fitted
with the requisite guard, may be sold or let until the end of September, 1954. Appliances for sale for scrap are also
exempted. The necessary resolution authorising the Medical Officer of Health, the Deputy Medical Officer of Health
and the Sanitary Inspectors to inspect and test appliances was passed by the Council on the 25th June, 1953.
HOUSING.
Houses unfit for human habitation.
No. of basement rooms dealt with by closing orders 233 (216)
No. of upper parts of premises dealt with by closing orders 2 (2)
No. of houses dealt with by demolition orders or in respect of which undertakings were
accepted 2 (4)
Nineteen (46) persons were displaced as a result of the Council's operations, eighteen (16) being rehoused by the
Paddington Borough Council, and one (3) secured accommodation privately.
Closing orders were determined or undertakings cancelled on twenty-one (6) basements and the upper parts of two
(2) mews premises. Twenty-two (8) other basements were made fit without recourse to formal proceedings.
Legal proceedings were taken against an owner for permitting the use for human habitation of basement rooms in
contravention of the terms of the closing orders in force. The magistrate imposed a fine of £5 in respect of each room
and ordered the owner to pay two guineas costs.
Compulsory Repairs.
Seven (22) notices under Section 9 of the Housing Act, 1936 were served during the year. In no case was the
notice complied with, although work was in progress at five (14) of the premises. In addition, work was being carried
out in default at one premises and at the other nothing had been done. Of the seventeen (32) notices served prior to
1953 which remained outstanding twelve (30) were complied with by the owners, default action was taken by the
Council in three (2) other cases, and two notices are still outstanding. At one other premises the owner executed the
required works without formal action being taken.
Entries in Rent Books.
Section 4 of the Housing Act, 1936 requires that the rent books in houses occupied, or of a type suitable
for occupation, by persons of the working classes shall contain:—
(1) the name and address of the medical officer of health for the district, and
(2) the name and address of the landlord or other person who is directly responsible for keeping the house in
all respects reasonably fit for human habitation.
Two reports were received as to rent books not containing the required particulars. Cautionary letters were sent to
the owners.
Housing Act, 1936—Overcrowding.
(a) (1) No. of dwellings overcrowded at the end of the year 327 (395)
(2) No. of families dwelling therein 338(411)
(3) No. of persons dwelling therein 1,369 (units) (1,600)
(b) No. of new cases of overcrowding reported during the year 87 (63)
(1) No. of cases of overcrowding relieved during the year 155 (216)
(2) No. of persons concerned in such cases 611 (units) (722½)
The number of overcrowded dwellings on the Register of Overcrowding at the end of 1953 (327) shows a decrease of
68 on the figure for 1952 (395). Some 82 of these were basement dwellings.
Of the cases of overcrowding relieved during the year 11 (29) were provided with accommodation by the Borough
Council, 39 (52) were rehoused by the London County Council, 1 was rehoused by the Weiwyn and Hatfield Development
Corporation, 70 (108) secured accommodation privately, and 34 (27) were relieved by a natural reduction in the size
of the family or on obtaining additional accommodation.