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London House Improvement Campaign
This campaign was initiated by the Department of the Environment in association with the London Boroughs
and the Greater London Council. It took place over a four week period commencing in the middle of April, and
was backed by a special advertising promotion of improvement grants in the national and local newspapers and
on television. This Council during the month had 4 demonstration houses open for 2 weeks each. These houses
were continuously manned, and were open for 3 evenings until 8 pm and on Saturdays until 5 pm. A total of
close on 4,000 persons visited them.
As the result of this campaign the number of enquiries and applications for grant increased dramatically and the
staff were under considerable pressure to deal with them. This upsurge in interest continued unabated up to the
end of this report period.
Repair and Improvement of Dwellings
Owing to severe staff shortage systematic house to house inspections throughout the whole Borough to secure
at least the full repair and improvement of tenanted property were not possible. However, a tenant may ask the
Council to require his landlord to provide the basic amenities in his dwelling. In most cases this refers to an
internal W.C. and bathroom. If this is in all respects reasonable, the Department can require the owner to carry
these works out. Sometimes this can be arranged by negotiation, but if this fails notice may be served under the
provisions of the Housing Act or if considered more appropriate compulsory purchase powers may be invoked.
This latter action was taken during the year in respect of 4 properties, 3 of which are within the Durban Road
improvement area. This procedure requires confirmation by the Department of the Environment and if objections
are lodged a public enquiry is called. By the end of the year the outcome of these four cases was not known, and
generally the Council's declared resolution to such compulsory acquisition spurs the owner into some more
positive action. If a property is subsequently properly repaired and improved it would not be the Council's
policy to pursue the acquisition, and indeed it is most unlikely that in such a case the Minister would confirm
the order.

The applications for the conversion of the larger properties nearly doubled and this was a cause of concern to this
Council because of the number of premises which were being acquired by developers for conversion and the
subsequent sale of the resulting dwellings on long leases. This loss of accommodation for letting caused the
Council to decide to consider early in 1973 whether grant approvals should be allowed only in those cases
where the proposals for the disposal of the dwellings upon completion of the works were not prejudicial to
the Council's overall housing policy.
Improvements and Rents
The Housing Finance Act 1972 replaced Part III of the Housing Act 1969 which made provision for the decontrol
of dwellings which were provided with all the standard amenities and met the other qualifying conditions.
Although the 1972 Act provides for the decontrol of all dwellings by the 1 July 1975, the particular date of
decontrol depending upon the rateable value of the dwelling, provision is still made for earlier decontrol where
the landlord is able to obtain a certificate from the Council that the dwelling meets all the qualifying conditions.
In addition the 1972 act reduced the phasing of rent increases from 5 to 3 annual increments and permitted
landlords immediately upon completion of grant aided improvements to increase the rent by 1 2Vi% of the cost
of the improvements less the grant received, provided the rent did not exceed the registered fair rent. This led to
special difficulty when the act came into operation as tenants who had given their consent on the understanding
that the rent would rise gradually over a period of years to the fair rent found that the initial increase under the
new provisions would result immediately in a rent almost up to the fair rent.
The Council had discussions on this problem with a large property company which was undertaking improvements
to an estate in the Borough and it was agreed by them that, notwithstanding the new legislation, the rent
increases would be limited and phased over a period of years.
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