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(2) Penalties for failure to execute works were widened to include
cases where the local authority had provided additional
amenities or means of escape in case of fire, in the
owner's default.
(3) The local authority were empowered to require the execution
of works in over-crowded houses or, at the same time, give
a direction to the owner as to the number of persons who
might occupy the house when the specified works had been
carried out.
(4) A more satisfactory power of entry to local authority inspectors
was included, that had been lacking in earlier
legislation.
(5) A management code was made available for use in connection
with certain tenement blocks.
(6) The local authority were empowered to register houses in
multiple occupation at their discretion without delay.
The 1961 Act had given a future date when local authorities
might cause a registration of these houses; the new 1964 Act
took away the operative date and gave the local authority
the power to do it straight away if they wished.
Important new provisions were contained in the Act, viz:—
(i) The power to require compulsory improvement of dwellings
by declaring "Improvement Areas".
(ii) The power to make a "Control Order" where a house let in
lodgings is either already subject to a notice served in relation
to Part II of the 1961 Act, or is susceptible to such
action, and in addition if it appears to the local authority
that the living conditions in the house are such that a control
order is necessary to protect the safety, welfare or health of
persons living in the house.
The high degree of intense multiple occupation in existence in
the Borough presents a situation that is incapable of being solved
rapidly, as it is coupled with the necessity to accomplish a state of
affairs whereby all dwellings are occupied within reasonable limits.
This would entail a reduction of the number of one- or two-roomed
lettings, and the redevelopment or conversion of many of the "rooming
houses". I find it difficult to imagine this being effectively
achieved by individual owners either voluntarily or following statutory
action by the Council using the available Housing Act powers.
Local Authorities have no ordinary powers to direct an owner
of a house how it shall be let. With the high inflated values of property
in the Central West London area, however, and the clamour
for rented accommodation, there is a human temptation for owners
to sub-let so as to extract the maximum rent potential from a house
irrespective of the numbers it is at the moment reasonably capable
of accommodating. It must be realised there are considerations
other than the provision of a separate sink, hot water supply, cooking
and food storage accommodation, with communal water-closet
and bath facilities. These latter are basic requirements to ensure
a reasonable standard of living for the occupants. I suggest that it
is equally important that such houses should provide dwellings that