London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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74
In three of the above, the complaint was dealt with as an offence
under the by-laws relating to water-closets.
Housing and Town Planning Act.—In future, if action be taken
under the powers conferred by this Act, police-court proceedings may
be fewer except for the purpose of recovering costs.
Houses to be Fit for Habitation.— Section 75 of the Act of 1890
enacts that in any contract for the letting of houses for the working
classes it is to be an implied condition that the house is at the
beginning of the holding in all respects reasonably fit for human
habitation, but this Section only applies where the rent does not
exceed £20 per annum. Section 14 of the new Act extends the
application of this provision to houses at a rent not exceeding £40.
Under Section 15, the implied condition as to fitness is to take effect
so as to include an undertaking not merely that the house was fit for
human habitation at the beginning of the tenancy, but that it
shall be kept so throughout the tenancy. This undertaking is made
enforceable by enabling the authority, if necessary, to do the work of
rendering the house fit for habitation and to recover the cost from
the landlord, or, as an alternative, to make a Closing Order under
Sections 17 and 18. Under Section 17, any dwelling-house which is in
a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for habitation
may be closed by the Council.
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| Premises. | Offence. | Result. |
|---|---|---|
| 41, Warwick Street (business premises) | Defective drain, ventilating pipe, &c. | Ordered to abate in 14 days. 6s. costs. |
| 39, Warwick Street (business premises) | Ceiling, walls, &c., dirty and dilapidated, &c. | Do. |
| 21a, Wellington Mews (stables, and living-rooms over) | Dirty and dilapidated condition of walls and ceilings ; defective ventilation, &c. | Work done before hearing. 3s. costs. |
| 15, Monck Street (tenements) | Dirty and verminous condition of rooms; dirty walls of w.c., staircase, &c. | Order to abate in 7 days. 6s. costs. |
| 24, Medway Street (tenements) | Dirty walls and ceilings of rooms and staircases; defective yard surface | Do. |
| 14, Broad Street (tenement house and workshops) | Dirty and defective condition of walls and ceilings; foul and choked guttering, defective woodwork and window frames on 2nd floor dirty and broken w.c.'s | Order to abate in 14 days. 6s. costs. |
| 24, Lillington Street (tenement house) | Absence of water supply to upper part of house | Work done before hearing. 3s. costs. |
| 53. Romney Street (tenement house) | Do | Order to provide within 14 days. 6s. costs. |