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would eventually result in a considerable thinning down of the number of
individuals living in the area.
2) A house in multiple occupation is one which is occupied by members of more
than one family or which is let in lodgings. There is however, a lack of precise
definition in the Housing Acts of the term 'family'. This has always caused
difficulty which has been accentuated by a recent interpretation by the Court
of Appeal in the case of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chealsea v. Holm.
Until a more positive definition of 'family' can be established the Council will
continue to have difficulty especially in houses occupied by Asian immigrants. It is
is found that there is an almost indefinite degree of inter-relation between
individual families in a house owing to the customs of the communities from which
they come and the fact that they frequently originate from the same villages.
3) Any scheme of registration similar to that envisaged by the Housing Acts 1961
and 1964, or to the scheme operating in Birmingham under the Birmingham
Corporation Act, 1966, would not help to solve the housing problem in Southall.
The normal exemption of a house with up to two families or up to four lodgers
would certainly take many of the houses in Southall out of such a scheme
completely.
All these deficiencies have been considered frequently by the Environmental
Health Committee and the Council, and representations have been made from time to
time to the Minister of Housing and Local Government. At the end of the year an
interview with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government was being sought with a
view to obtaining more extensive powers to deal with houses in multiple occupation.
Details of action taken to enforce the provisions of the Housing Acts relating to
houses in multiple occupation are given i n the following tables:
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