View report page

72
The Committee takes a serious view of the practice of
owners and agents allowing new dwellings to be occupied
before they are fit for occupation, and are prepared to
vigorously enforce the provisions of Byelaw 90. In the cases
mentioned the arguments put forward by the persons at fault
were principally, that tenants are, as a rule, so anxious to
move into the house, and they are not deterred by the damp
state of the walls; that the question of the walls being
"reasonably" dry was one about which there could be a
difference of opinion; and that in the case in point they had
taken due care to ensure the house being reasonably fit before
being occupied. The Committee did not agree with the latter
contention, but as this was the first case before them they
decided that in consideration of the house being promptly
vacated, they would take no further action.
The length of time the walls of a new building will take
to become reasonably dry depends upon various circumstances;
for instance, the state of the weather during the
erection of the building, the nature of the prevailing winds,
and whether or not these are allowed to blow freely through
the building after the roof is completed.
Accordingly, a house may be quick in drying, or it may
be slow, but the point is—what is the condition at the time of
occupation? If the walls are then decidedly damp, it is
reasonable to hold that Byelaw 90 has been contravened, and
the Council would be justified in enforcing its provisions.
Overcrowding.
The number of overcrowded tenements found in Finchley
at the last Census was 230. For the purposes of the Census
an "over-crowded tenement" is officially defined as one inhabited
by more than two persons to a room. It is a definition
which is necessarily imperfect, as it does not take into account
the cubic oapacity of the room; but it is simple, and in the
majority of cases could not be regarded as too strict. Section
91 of the Public Health Act, 1875, defines, as a nuisance
"any house or part of a house so overcrowded as to be