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Work in the existing General Improvement Area appears, at first
sight, to be disappointingly slow but it should be remembered that much
improvement was done in the area before declaration as a result of advance
publicity.
Difficulty is being experienced in finding builders to carry
out work since demand for improvement is increasing all over the borough.
Qualification Certificates - Housing Act 19b9
During the year 292 applications were received and 102 were
approved.
These figures indicate the generally unsatisfactory conditions
found in houses that, in many cases, have obviously received no visit by
the owners for years.
It is significant that many applications have been refused, not
only on grounds of disrepair, but also because of missing amenities.
The time of professional staff which is wasted by these
irresponsible applications has to be borne by the Council and no redress
even in monetary terms is available.
If some kind of penalty were imposed in cases where the application
should never have been made, for obvious reasons, the number of
refusals might be effectively reduced.
Houses in Multiple Occupation
69 visits were paid to these properties during the year.
As reported in previous years, there is relatively no multiple
occupation problem within this district since few areas of the borough
contain houses of sufficient size to provide the accommodation required.
Conditions generally were found to be satisfactory and it was
not necessary to institute legal proceedings in cases where contraventions
were discovered.
Particular attention was paid during all visits to means of
escape in case of fire.
Gypsy Sites and Fairgrounds
128 visits have been made by my staff during the year and problems
still arise.
At the beginning of the year a temporary caravan site was opened
at The Chase, Dagenham Road, Dagenham, pending the construction of a
permanent encampment.
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