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85
and the unfortunate occupiers have speedily to find other quarters.
The Sanitary Authority has no control over the executive functions of a
District Surveyor, nor has it any right to interfere with his decisions.
Much good can, however, be achieved by active co-operation between the
District Surveyor and the officers of the Sanitary Authority. There are
numbers of cases of overcrowding in the City and others equally deserving
of rehousing, but none present the desperate urgency of those tenants
whose roofs are taken from over their heads in dwellings being demolished
as dangerous structures.
In certain cases where the certificate of the District Surveyor is not
too comprehensive, that is to say, where it is a question of dangerous
chimney-stacks or where the work required by him does not necessarily
mean that the houses must be vacated while the structure is being secured,
the powers of the Sanitary Authority under Section 3 of the Housing Act,
1925, have proved useful. In cases where the owners themselves have
taken no steps to secure the dangerous structures in the hope that by their
default the District Surveyor will proceed with demolition, it has been
possible, by serving notices under Section 3, to make owners realise their
obligations under this Section. Working-class accommodation which
otherwise would have been pulled down has thus been preserved, at least
for a time. In other instances, owners, realising the tenants' difficulties,
have provided other suitable accommodation for them. It has been
pointed out to tenants that they have a remedy at law in the statutory
implications of Section 1 of the Housing Act, but the institution of legal
proceedings to enforce the provisions of Section 1 does not appeal to
people who have not the necessary means.
As a point of legal interest it may be observed that in Section 3 lies
the only remedy available to the Sanitary Authority in attempting to deal
with this problem. The nuisance sections of the Public Health Act
provide for the decision of a magistrate if work required is not done.
Evidence that a dwelling had been certified as a dangerous structure
would in all probability result in a closing order being made and not an
abatement order. Closure is the aim of the owners, who naturally
desire to reap the benefits of enhanced site value, while the Sanitary
Authority is striving to have houses maintained fit for habitation. In
these circumstances it is obvious also that the closing and demolition
powers of the Housing Act would be equally inapplicable.
The problem of working-class dwellings becoming uninhabitable owing
to instability of structure is becoming acute and is likely to remain so.
The London County Council as the "demolishing authority" has in
almost every case endeavoured to provide housing for displaced tenants;