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The manager is also given responsibilities respecting the
condition of rooms let to tenants or lodgers as living accommodation,
the disposal of refuse and litter, and the taking of reasonable precautions
to protect tenants and lodgers from dangers resulting from
structural conditions in the premises.
By virtue of section 13(4) of the Housing Act, 1961, offenders
against the regulations are liable to a fine and, on a second or subsequent
offence, to imprisonment.
For the purposes of these provisions the term "lessee" includes
an underlessee, tenant, person interested under an agreement for a
lease, underlease or tenancy, and a statutory tenant under the Rent
Acts.
The department is informed of houses in multiple occupation in
a variety of ways extending from routine inspection of houses which
are in a condition of disrepair, to applications to the Housing
Department for rehousing. Even the amount of refuse requiring
collection from the premises can be an indication of the number of
persons living there.
Some of the difficulties to be overcome in securing reasonable
standards of space and facilities within houses in multiple occupation
appear to stem from the acceptance by many of the occupiers, from
either wish or necessity, of conditions which are less than can be
reasonably regarded as minimal. It may be that in some cases
before coming to this country occupants were accustomed or obliged to
regard a room as adequate sleeping accommodation for whatever
number of persons who could be accommodated on the floor. Different
social customs can also lead to friction. A practice was discovered
of purchasing chickens on Monday, securing them to the bedpost by
a piece of string round the leg until due for slaughter on Saturday.
That the practice is insanitary as well as crude, is not easily grasped
by people who have been used to such habits.
HARINGE Y GROVE CLEARANCE AREA
Details of this area of 25 houses, were contained in last year's
report. The houses were 1-29 (odd), 4-10 (even), 16 and 18 Haringey
Grove. Confirmation of the Order, with minor modifications, was
given by the Minister on 28th August, 1962, and it became operative
on 26th October, 1962.
By the end of the year the Council had commenced the acquisition
of the houses and sites involved, and rehousing of the families into
Council accommodation in other farts of the Borough had been
commenced.
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