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36
SECTION D.
HOUSING.
Clearance Areas and Individual Unfit Dwellings.
It was stated in my report for the year 1957 that there remained
66 unfit dwellings to be dealt with under the Council's five-year
post-war programme for Slum Clearance.
Thirty-five of these dwellings were contained in proposed
Clearance Areas and 31 were individual unfit dwellings.
During the year under review, eight individual houses have
been dealt with and the detailed inspection of nine houses in three
Clearance Areas completed.
The number of unfit properties which can be dealt with in
one year is limited as the programme is dependent upon the number
of Council houses available for re-housing the displaced persons.
There is no reason to doubt, however, that the total number of
houses can be dealt with within the five years allotted for the task.
Rent Act, 1957.
Applications for Certificates of Disrepair dropped from an
average of ten per month, last year when the Act came into force,
to three per month for the year ending December, 1958. If the
permitted increases in rents have been applied generally by landlords
of "controlled" properties, it can only be assumed that the
Act is working as intended and that tenants and landlords are reaching
agreement on the question of necessary repairs without recourse
to the Local Authority.
During the year, 38 applications were received. In 22 cases,
undertakings were received from landlords to remedy the defects,
but in the remaining 16 cases Certificates of Disrepair were issued
to tenants.
Housing Statistics for the year 1958.
Total number of valuation assessments, houses and flats,
at 31st December, 1958 23,463
(1) (a) Total number of dwelling houses inspected for
housing defects (under the Public Health or Housing
Acts) 181
(b) Number of inspections made for the purpose 676
(2) Number of dwelling houses (included under sub-head
(1) above) which were inspected and recorded under the
Housing Consolidated Regulations, 1925 —
(3) Number of dwelling houses found to be in a state so
dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human
habitation 17