View report page

nuisances. Of these statutory duties confronting the Local Sanitary Authority none is more
onerous than that of maintaining in a habitable condition existing housing accommodation,
the extent of this responsibility insofar as it concerns the Public Health Inspectorate
may be gathered from the fact that over the past 12 months some 15,017 inspections and re
inspections were made under Public Health Acts,. Housing and Rent Acts and other legislation,
1,780 complaints regarding unsatisfactory conditions were investigated and 583 notices specifying
works to remedy defects such as dampness, general disrepair, defective drainage leak
ing roofs, etc., were served. In addition, pursuant to the requirements of Section 3 of the
Housing Act 1957 and the Housing Consolidated Regulations, 1925/32 some 599 houses were
surveyed to ascertain their fitness for human habitation having regard to the standard prescribed
by the Act and the possibility or otherwise of their being included in a slum clearance
scheme or dealt with by demolition or closing order procedure.
Legal proceedings arising from the failure of owners to comply with the requirements
of notices served under the nuisance abatement procedure of the Public Health Acts were
instituted in 13 cases. Such proceedings are not, however always successful in enforcing
essential repairs in one instance the Public Health Committee were obliged to operate the
deferred demolition procedure as provided by Section 17 of the Housing Act, 1957 which
enables the Council to purchase such houses at site value with a view to maintaining them
in a tolerably habitable condition until such time as alternative accommodation is found
for the occupants.
The Housing Repairs and Rents Act. 1954, and other enactments relating to the control
of rents and the right to retain possession of houses were amended and to some extent con
solidated by the Rent Act, 1957 and the Rent Restrictions Regulations. 1957 introduced by
Parliament in July of this year. The somewhat complicated procedure under the new legislation
relating to the issue of certificates of disrepair and with regard to the rights and
duties of the tenant and responsibility of the local sanitary authority made it necessary
for the Council to set up a special enquiry bureau to assist members of the public. 194
applications for certificates of disrepair were received and dealt with by the Public Health
Inspectorate during the first six months of the new Act coming into operation 177 notices
(form J) of the Council's proposal to issue such certificates were served on landlords
arising out of which 85 undertakings (form K) to remedy defects specified thereon within a
period of 6 months were submitted by the owners and accepted by the Council. 41 new certi
ficates of disrepair were issued and 48 were brought forward from the previous Act (Hous
ing Repairs and Rent Act 1954). Administration of the new Rent Act has added considerably
to the work of the Public Health Inspectors Section of the Department the steady flow of
applications from tenants for certificates continues and at the time of preparing this
report over 300 had been received and dealt with.
SLUM CLEARANCE AND REDEVELOPMENT AREAS
The Council's first venture in slum clearance was brought to a satisfactory conclusion
when a Public Local Inquiry in respect of the Leyton Housing (Crescent Road Area) Compulsory
Purchase Order, 1956 which comprised 4 clearance areas was held in the Town Hall on
Tuesday 7th January 1958. The Inquiry was ordered by the Minister of Housing and Local
Government to enable persons who objected to their properties being included in the Compul
sory Purchase Order either on the grounds that they were not unfit for human habitation or
because of other personal or business reasons, to be heard. It is now known that the Compulsory
Purchase Order was confirmed by the Minister without any material modification. In
this connection it was gratifying to note that the Officers' interpretation of the complex
and controversial standard as to what may be considered to be a house unfit for habitation
within the terms of the Housing Acts was in every case upheld by the Minister thus providing
a reliable basis on which to classify houses in future slum clearance schemes.
The Inquiry marked the last stage of a lengthy procedure which started in May 1955
with a detailed inspection of all houses in the areas by the Public Health Inspectorate.
(24)