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3. Overcrowding.
(a) Extent.—There is apparently no very serious overcrowding
in the Borough, there being about 170 known cases. This number
has been obtained from the investigation of applications for housing
accommodation, house to house inspection, and enquiries regarding
infectious disease.
(b) Causes.—The cause of the overcrowding seems to be the
lack of houses to let. It is seldom possible to rent a house in
the Borough and then only at a comparatively high rent.
(c) The action taken by the public health department to
deal with overcrowding is to report the results of enquiries regarding
overcrowded houses to the Housing Committee, indicating the
extent of the overcrowding and recommending the person concerned
for consideration in the allotting of Council houses which may
become vacant.
4. Fitness of Houses.
(a) Very little difficulty is experienced in getting houses
made fit for habitation. A large proportion of the work is done
on the issue of intimation notices to the owners or their agents.
When required, Statutory Notices are served, but it is seldom
necessary to take legal proceedings to enforce compliance with
these notices.
(b) All the property in the Borough which does not come up
to the standard as laid down in the Manual on Unfit Houses and
Unhealthy Areas, 1919, has been scheduled and arrangements
have been made for the houses to be systematically inspected
and recorded. Notices are being served to remedy the defects
found and if blocks of property are in one ownership the owner
is interviewed and arrangements are entered into for the work
to be spread over a reasonable period.
(c) There are under 20 houses without an adequate internal
water supply, the supply for these houses being stand-pipes in the
yards. The water supplies for the Borough are of a public character.
(d) There are no houses without proper sanitary accommodation
within their own curtilage. Practically the whole of the
houses have sanitary accommodation of a private nature,