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44
HOUSING
Housing Act, 1957
Clearance Areas.—Six areas consisting of a total of 129 houses
were declared as clearance areas under Sections 42 and 43(2) and
77 houses were demolished following action under these sections.
Ninety-eight houses were represented under Section 157 of
the Act.
Closing Orders—Under Section 157, nine houses and parts of
seven houses were represented for closure; ten Closing Orders
were made under Section 18 and, under Section 27, Closing Orders
in respect of two houses and part of one house were determined.
Housing Act, 1961
Houses in multiple occupation
Out of an estimated number of 12,000 houses in multiple occupation,
4,469 have now been fully inspected, 1,100 having been
visited this year for the first time. An analysis of the register shows
the occupation of the 4,469 houses to be as follows:—
Occupancies: 2 3 4 5 6 78910+
No. of houses: 2,278 1,088 494 241 145 99 59 33 32
During the year a reorganisation of the housing division of the
Health Department was carried out enabling the work on multiple
occupation to be intensified. Unfortunately, the resignation of two
of the trained technical assistants depleted the staff, and the fact
that the new intake had to be trained during the latter half of the
year did not enable us to reach the target which we had set ourselves.
However, it is quite obvious from the manner in which the
division was working towards the very end of the year that future
targets will be easily reached and surpassed.
The general practice is to endeavour to persuade owners to bring
properties in multiple occupation up to the standard acceptable to
the Corporation. Although considerable work has been carried
out by many owners on a voluntary basis, others have not been so
co-operative, and consequently it has been necessary to serve 28
notices under Section 16 of the Housing Act, 1961, requiring the
provision of means of escape in case of fire, and seven notices
under Section 15 of the Housing Act, 1961, requiring additional
facilities. On four occasions during the year these notices have not
been complied with and the work has been carried out in default.
The work carried out by owners, both voluntarily and following
the service of notices, resulted in 88 houses being brought up to
standard. In seven instances, owners who had received formal
or informal notices of work required reduced the number of lettings
in their premises and in these circumstances no further action was
taken.