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the landlord setting down the defects of repair which he alleges against the property.
When a certificate has been issued by a council, it enables the tenant to abate the
increase of rent until the required repairs have been done. Many tenants fall at the
first hurdle. Others, having completed the very time-consuming course and obtained
the certificate, frequently fail to take steps to reduce the rent.
Nevertheless, many tenants do come to terms with their landlords. In some
houses tenants do repairs and undertake renovation of decorations. In other cases
tenants know that even the enhanced rent yields a return which is insufficient to
enable owners to undertake more than minimal work of a maintenance character.
There has been a big decline in the number of applications for Certificates of
Disrepair since the Act was introduced in 1957. There may be many tenants of rentcontrolled
houses who could use the Rent Act procedure to secure repairs but the
lengthy procedure and formalities involved are daunting. So much so that it is not
until deterioration is followed by nuisance or dilapidations tend to unfitness that the
issue is brought to the department for action under the Public Health or Housing
Acts. This is a more straightforward procedure for tenants.
Statistical tables—see pages 83-85.
SHOPS
The Shops Act, 1950, is a consolidating Act re-enacting the existing law on hours
of closing, conditions of employment, Sunday trading and general matters relating
to these subjects. In addition to their statutory duty for enforcing the provisions relating
to ventilation, temperature and sanitary conditions (Section 38) the Council have
appointed each Public Health Inspector as a Shops Inspector for the whole of the Act.
The number of persons observing the Jewish Sabbath and registered in accordance
with the provisions of Section 53 of the Act was 13.
One hundred and fifty-four inspections were made and contraventions were dealt
with without recourse to legal proceedings.
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