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pressure on the owner. A tenant strongly criticized apathy to his
complaint that a broken hasp on the lavatory door—a fixture at that
time costing 3d.—adversely affected his own health and that of his
family.
The Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954, called upon local
authorities to submit to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government
details of all houses unfit for human habitation—the judgment,
of course, to be made on legal standards. Beckenham was one of the
very few (I think five) authorities in the country to make a "Nil"
return. The reasons for this are worthy of consideration.
Bcckenham is largely composed of houses of modern structure.
There are, however, some hundreds of houses which 11 years ago were
approaching the borderline between suitability for repair and demolition.
Recommendations were made and approved that the further
deterioration of these properties should be halted by action under
Section 9 of the Housing Act, 1936.
At the time when this work commenced (in 1946), and for a
considerable time afterwards, it did not appear that this policy was
one being generally pursued by local authorities.
Since that date 480 houses have been reclaimed, and work is
still in progress in many others. Had this work not been done, our
return to the Ministry would certainly not have been "Nil", but would
have swollen by some hundreds the colossal total of derelict properties
which the countrywide summary brings to light, a total so great as to
make it completely impossible to forecast when this unfortunate position
can be remedied. Only one thing is certain—those people in this
country who are now housed in properties officially declared so unfit
as to be irrepairable even to the mild standards of the Housing Acts
will continue to suffer these living conditions for some years yet to
come. That this will not happen in Beckenham is entirely due to the
work consistently carried out since 1946. A warning note should be
struck, however. We naturally dealt with our worst properties first—
that is, 11 years ago. Those blocks of houses will require very close
inspection again in 4 to 5 years from now, and it may well be then
that demolition will be the answer.
The Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954, enabled owners, in
certain circumstances, to increase the rents of properties. The tenant
has the right to apply to the Authority for a Certificate of Disrepair,
and if this is granted the increased rent is not payable until the defects
listed in this Certificate are dealt with. Owners did not take advantage
of these provisions to any extent.
Since the Act came into force in August, 1954, 36 Certificates of
Disrepair have been applied for in Beckenham, and only two of that
number relate to 1956. In 11 of the total cases, after considering
the reports of inspection, the tenants' claims for Certificates were
refused.
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