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ownership. At the end of the year a report had been prepared for presentation to the Council on the
desirability of designating these areas under Part II of the Housing Act 1964.
It is now generally accepted that the existing procedures for securing compulsory improvement
are both cumbersome and time consuming but until alternative legislation is available to this end,
the results which can be achieved are well worth the effort.
Compulsory Improvement of Dwellings outside Improvement Areas
Section 19 of the Housing Act 1964 enables the tenant of an individual house which is not within
an Improvement Area to make representation requiring the council to take action in order to secure
improvement of the dwelling by the provision of full standard amenities. The initial approach must
come from the tenant and it is unfortunate that greater advantage is not taken of this provision. More
publicity would perhaps encourage a greater number of tenants to exercise their rights in this respect,
but in many cases there is a reluctance to accept the increased rent level which must inevitably
accompany any scheme of improvement, or a fear of creating bad tenant/landlord relationships.
Representations were received under Section 19 from the tenants of three dwellings; after informal
approach to the owners it was agreed in each case to consider the preparation of an appropriate
improvement scheme and at the end of the year application for Standard Grant had been submitted
to the Council in respect of one of the houses.
The works necessary in respect of four representations outstanding from previous years were
satisfactorily completed. Two were in respect of houses forming part of a terrace of eight properties
in single ownership and one within a similar group of three properties. It was possible to secure
the provision of full standard amenities in all eleven houses.
Overcrowding
The following statement provides a summary of the known cases of overcrowding existing or
dealt with during the year, the standard of assessing overcrowding being that specified by the
Housing Act 1957.
(a) Number of dwellings known to be overcrowded
at end of year 11
Number of families in occupation 15
Number of persons in occupation 59
(b) Number of new cases reported 14
(c) Number of cases relieved 8
Number of persons concerned 43
These are the only cases of statutory overcrowding recorded by the Department. Other cases
must undoubtedly exist but the entire extent of the problem is not considered to represent a serious
hazard. Overcrowding only rarely comes to light during the course of normal routine inspections or
as a result of direct complaint. In the main, cases are brought to notice by tenants who are seeking
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