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(5) Proceedings under Section 44 of the Housing Act, 1957.
(a) Number of Clearance Areas declared
(b) Number of unfit dwellings included in Clearance
Areas
(c) Number of unfit dwellings in Clearance Areas
demolished 14
Overcrowding.
At the end of the year only 12 dwellings were known to be
overcrowded, 24 cases having been abated and 15 new cases having
been discovered during the year. This figure represents 0.06%
of the total dwellings in the district showing that statutory
overcrowding has now ceased to be a problem.
Improvement Grants.
The increased interest in Improvement Grants mentioned in
my last report continued throughout the year and the number of
applications received, whilst still not large, was much greater
than in any previous year.
Six applications for Standard Grants were received and all
were granted.
Nine applications for Discretionary Grants were received.
One was withdrawn before it was considered by the Public Health
Committee and one application was refused because it did not
comply with the Ministry's requirements; in the other seven
cases maximum grants were approved.
As an additional encouragement to owners to carry out improvements
the Council have now discontinued their practice of
charging a fee for their administrative expenses in connection
with Discretionary Grants.
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