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18
Overcrowding
Table 19, page 71, gives statistical information about the known cases of overcrowding in the
City at the end of the year. As mentioned in the Report for 1965 however, only a house-to-house
survey (which is impracticable at the present time) would give the full extent of the problem.
Unfit Houses
The closing of unfit premises, which is the more usual procedure than the making of demolition
orders, because ordinarily only parts of buildings are involved, raises a problem which the Housing
Acts do nothing specifically to resolve, namely the provision of alternative accommodation for
families living in premises on which closing order are made. Indeed section 27 (5) of the Housing
Act 1957 removes the protection of the Rent Acts against possession by the landlord in such cases.
While not statutorily bound to provide alternative accommodation, there is a moral obligation on
the City Council to do so in the absence of local flats or houses available from private sources at
rents which the families can afford. The acceptance of this obligation inevitably leads to the
lengthening of the already long waiting list for rehousing by the City Council; and were over-riding
priority to be given in all cases to the families involved when a closing order is made, injustice
would be done to those with claims on other grounds. The compromise necessarily adopted
whereby a closing order is not enforced while the sitting tenant is in occupation has the merit only
that it prevents re-occupation of the premises when the tenant does leave.
Certificates of Disrepair
Little use is made by the public of this procedure under the Rent Act 1957 as Table 20, page 71,
shows. The disrepair which would normally form the basis of an application for a certificate can
usually be dealt with under Public Health or Housing Act legislation, however. In most cases the
tenants' prime consideration is the speedy remedying of defects rather than a reduction in rent which,
under the Rent Act, is the only penalty on an owner for not taking action on a certificate. Statutory
action under legislation other than the Rent Act is thus frequently invoked.
Slum Clearance
The division of responsibility between the City Council and the Greater London Council in
connection with slum clearance was agreed upon during the year. In pursuance of its part in the
programme the City Council:—
(a) In June declared the Broadley Street Area a clearance area and made a compulsory purchase
order for the acquisition of the properties within the site bounded by Broadley Street,
Salisbury Street, Ashmill Street and Penfold Street.
(b) In December made a clearance order in respect of St. Anne's Buildings, and a compulsory
purchase order relating to Nos. 1 to 6 Richmond Buildings, 1 to 8 St. Anne's Court, and 83
to 85 Dean Street. The Council of the former City of Westminster had declared St. Anne's
Court and Richmond Buildings to be a clearance area in 1964.
The following areas were in the slum clearance programme but action under Part III of the Housing
Act 1957 (Clearance Areas) will not be necessary:—
(a) The Hall Place Area, comprising Nos. 72 to 90 and 102 to 130 (even) Hall Place, and 30
Cuthbert Street, is included in a site bounded by Edgware Road, Cuthbert Street, Hall Place
and Crompton Street, the freeholds having been acquired by the Council in April.
(b) The Clipstone Street Area, which comprised Nos. 8 to 11 Clipstone Street and 33 to 47
Hanson Street, has been demolished as part of a private redevelopment of the site bounded
by Clipstone Street, Hanson Street, New Cavendish Street and Great Titchfield Street.
(c) The Sherborne Place Area i.e. Nos. 4 to 14 (consecutive) Sherborne Place has now been
acquired by the Council as part of the sale by British Rail of the Marylebone Goods Yard
and Blandford Square areas.
Loans and Grants
The Public Health Inspectors continued to report on all cases of applications for loans for the
purchase of houses and grants for improvements to properties which are dealt with by the City
Treasurer and Director of Housing respectively. During the year, 140 applications for loans and 106
applications for grants were referred to the Health Department.
Housing Trusts
Notable progress was made during the year by the Mulberry Housing Trust which is one of the
most active Housing Trusts operating in the City, mainly in the North Paddington area. This Trust
became actively engaged in business on 6th September, 1965 and by the end of 1966 had purchased
fifty-five houses with a further twenty houses in various stages of purchase. The Secretary/
Manager of the Trust has established a close and helpful relationship with officers of the Health
Department and other Departments of the City Council.