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55
HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES ACT.
During the past year I have certified a total of eighty-seven
houses as unfit for habitation under part II. of the Housing of the
Working Classes Act. I may here just refer to the method of
procedure under this portion of the Act. The law requires that no
matter how decayed or badly constructed a house may be, the only
course a Vestry can take under the Act, after the representation by
the Medical Officer of Health, is to call upon the owner to render
the premises, the subject of the representation, fit for habitation,
and this notice must be served, although it may be apparent that it
is impossible to comply with it.
All the eighty-seven houses certified were visited by the Sanitary
Committee. In a few instances it was thought preferable (for
reasons unnecessary to detail) to proceed under the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891, but in sixty-two instance the formal notice " to
render fit'' was served under the Housing Act. Following on these
notices forty closing orders were obtained at Worship St. Police
Court. Up to the present time 23 of the houses remain closed, 19
have been repaired and reoccupied, 20 are still under notice, and 36
have been demolished.
A large number of other houses have been dealt with, representations
as to which had been made by me before 1897. Full details
will be found overleaf. Mr. Foot's report on the action taken is as
follows:—