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ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Housing
Council housing
At the end of the year there were 19,980 properties controlled by the Council. This accommodation
consisted of 3,408 one-bedroom, 7,177 two-bedroom, 9,114 three-bedroom, and 281 four or fivebedroom
units.
Six hundred and fourteen applicants were rehoused during the year and on the 31st December there
were 5,848 applicants on the waiting list. Fifty-five people were awarded priority on grounds of illhealth
or disablement.
I am grateful to the Housing Manager for supplying the above information.
Improvement areas
Housing Act 1964
Seven "improvement areas" have been declared by the Council in which property owners could be
required to provide standard amenities in their houses. Improvement work in these areas has
continued. Negotiations were commenced in 44 cases with property owners outside improvement
areas where they had been required by their tenants to improve their houses.
Housing Act 1969
Local authorities may declare "general improvement areas". Public interest in grants for environmental
improvement in addition to those for dwellings has been disappointing. However, two further
areas were surveyed during the year.
Housing Act 1971
Grants for environmental treatment were further increased in 1971.
In the spring the Department of the Environment organised a publicity campaign in the Greater
London area to encourage the comprehensive improvement of houses in the private sector.
The Council as its contribution carried out the major improvement and alteration of two acquired
properties and used them as showhouses. One house had an improved kitchen and rear bathroom
extension added, while the other, a larger property, had part of the rear bedroom converted into a
bathroom and water closet. The properties were on public view for four weeks during April and May
with public health inspectors on duty to offer advice and assistance.
In the autumn, the Department of the Environment requested local authorities to make a survey of
the housing stock within their districts and to formulate an overall strategy for dealing with unfit
houses and other properties below standard. A 5% random sample survey was carried out by public
health inspectors and 3,509 properties inspected. It is estimated that some 325 houses are unfit and
nearly 7,500 houses in the borough are capable of being improved up to the 12 point standard.
Housing Acts 1958/
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Housing Finance
Act 1972
Grants are available for home improvement and conversion of property to provide additional units of
accommodation. Other than standard grants, for which the limit is £200, these grants are made at the
discretion of the Council. The maximum grant is £1,000 per dwelling although this may be raised to
£1,200 if the conversion of three-storey building is involved. Three hundred and eight discretionary
and 116 standard grants were made to provide houses with full standard amenities.
House Purchase and
Housing Act 1959
Housing (Financial
Provisions) Act
1958
Four hundred and thirty-eight applications for house purchase loans were dealt with by the Town
Clerk, £483,990 being advanced. Where claims of overcrowding in support of applications are made,
these are investigated by the public health inspectorate.
Overcrowding
Housing Act 1957
Two notices to abate cases of overcrowding were served during the year.
Houses in multiple
occupation
Housing Acts 1957,
1961. 1964 and 1969
The local authority may limit the number of persons living in a house in multiple occupation and
require the person having control to provide certain amenities. The Council has adopted standards in
respect of both overcrowding and amenities and a scheme for registration has been approved by the
Ministry.
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