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the Act and Regulations and, as a result, written undertakings not to
relet or use as sleeping places were given in respect of 91 houses.
In the next few years many more such undertakings were given and
the number of formal Closing Orders gradually increased.
In each of the subsequent years an increasing number of Closing
Orders was made until in 1937 and 1938 they totalled 203 and 232
respectively. During this period, and increasingly in the years
immediately preceding the war, many owners were prepared to recondition
basement rooms to secure conformity with the City Council's Regulations
and between 1936 and 1938 some 250 Closing Orders were determined
and something like 600 rooms were rendered fit for human habitation
and brought back into use as dwellings.
At that time the average cost of the works necessary to make three
basement rooms fit was £150, a figure which many owners considered
justified and not unreasonable in the hope of future recoupment.
During the War reprobated basements recovered their attraction and,
Closing Order or no Closing Order, they were much in demand during
periods of air raids. In the immediate post.war period there was
inevitably little activity towards the closure or reconditioning of properties
and it was not until 1948 that Closing Order procedure was restarted
because people who had been thankful to live in basements in time of
danger, when danger had passed became clamant for rehousing. In that
year 65 Closing Orders were made in an effort to deal with the worst of
the basements.
The cost of building works in the post.war years has increased
enormously and so few owners have felt disposed or able to undertake
the reconditioning of basement or other rooms that have fallen under
condemnation. The average cost of bringing three rooms up to the
standard of the statute and regulations is now £450, but, nevertheless,
since 1948, works have been carried out in some 80 instances and an
equivalent number of Closing Orders have been determined.
With building costs still advancing it is not possible to forecast to
what extent or for how long such reconditioning works will continue to
be carried out, because the length of interest in a property will always
remain a determining factor, and this doubtless influenced leaseholders
in the years of activity before the War. Few leaseholders in Pimlico—.
which is still the principal residential area—have long unexpired terms.