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47
come to its notice where a landlord of house property in Westminster
acted with conscious and flagrant disregard for the rights of his tenants
to the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their lettings.
I had reported to the July meetings of the Housing and Public Health
Committees the instance of a tenant of a furnished letting on the second
floor of a house in multiple occupation. This tenant had recently taken
up residence in the house, and frequently held noisy all-night parties
which not only disturbed four other tenants in the house (at least three
of whom were statutory tenants), but also caused annoyance to families
living in the neighbourhood. In spite of complaints from the tenants and
nearby residents, and a letter from the Town Clerk to the landlord,
disturbance by the all-night parties continued.
The statutory tenant of the third floor of the premises consulted the
local Citizens' Advice Bureau about the annoyance and inconvenience she
was suffering. As a result, this lady, showing considerable public spirit
and courage, instituted County Court proceedings against the offending
tenant, although she was not entitled to legal aid and despite the fact that
she only had limited means.
The case was heard at the Bloomsbury County Court on the 31st July,
1963, when the Judge granted the plaintiff an interim injunction restraining
the tenant complained of from committing any further acts of nuisance
at the premises. The defendant immediately vacated the premises and,
as it had not been possible to trace his whereabouts, the proceedings in the
County Court which were set down for final hearing on the 7th October,
1963, were withdrawn.
Because the defendant had disappeared, the plaintiff had not been able
to recover any of her costs in the proceedings which amounted to
£91 10s. 6d.
At its meeting on the 12th December, 1963, the City Council adopted
a recommendation of the General Purposes Committee that the sum of
£91 10s. 6d. be paid to the plaintiff in reimbursement of her legal costs.
In view of the publicity given to these proceedings, and the interest
which the Council openly displayed in their result, landlords, as well as
tenants, were left in no doubt what the Council's attitude would be if
there were any further cases in Westminster of the intimidation of
statutory tenants.
Common Lodging Houses
There are two common lodging houses for men in the City, licensed by
the City Council under the Public Health (London) Act, 1936.
These common lodging houses have accommodation for 716 and 565
men lodgers respectively.
Five visits were made by the Public Health Inspectors to the lodging
houses during the year.