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Cat. B : Houses which appear to be in certain respects substandard
but are nevertheless reasonably suitable for occupation and
outside the scope of slum clearance or demolition/closing
procedure at the present time.
Cat. C : Houses which appear to be modern or comparatively
modern in design and structually sound.
The above classifications are determined having regard to the requirements
of section 25 of the Housing Act, 1936, and the standard of
fitness for human habitation prescribed by section 9 of the Housing
Repairs and Rents Act, 1954.
It is hoped to extend the scope of district housing inspection on a
house-to-house basis, dependent on the staff of Sanitary Inspectors
available.
Inspection forms were also introduced to facilitate action resulting
from such inspections in connection with the issue of certificates of
disrepair and the service of notices under the Public Health and Housing
Acts to enforce essential repairs and compliance with relevant statutory
provisions.
2,234 complaints in respect of dwelling-houses were received and
dealt with. The majority of complaints concerned items of disrepair
which had given rise to defective conditions, such as dampness, leaking
roofs, broken wall plaster, decayed floor timbers, etc.
During the course of the year 10,260 housing inspections and reinspections
were carried out, resulting in the service of 1,253 formal and
informal notices. These inspections revealed that of the 1,369 families
affected by notices served 460 (34.3%) were without the exclusive use
of a W.C., and 134 (9.8%) were without separate water supply.
It would appear from the comparatively small number (36) of
applications received from tenants for certificates of disrepair under
section 26 of the Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954, that this Act
has failed in its primary object of encouraging owners to renovate their
properties. This may be due to the high initial repair expenditure
necessary in certain types of substandard houses to justify a rent increase.
Details of the number of applications received, certificates of disrepair
issued and revoked, are given in the statistical tables.
On 22nd June a special meeting of the Public Health Committee
was convened to give consideration to a joint report by the Medical
Officer of Health and Chief Sanitary Inspector on Future Housing Development,
and on 15th July a joint meeting with the Housing and Town
Planning Committee was arranged when agreement was reached on a
number of important aspects of the Borough's housing problem—vide
Council Minute 751, July, 1955. Paragraph (c) of that minute contained
instructions to the Officers to complete the necessary preparatory and
survey work in respect of two areas in the Borough selected for redevelopment.
This work started in August and continued throughout
the year. As this is the beginning of a long term programme of redevelopment
in the Borough, it is reasonable to assume that at least two
Inspectors will be engaged on this work for an indefinite number of
years.