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stances warranted. Wembley is a comparatively new town and
consequently has not a large number of houses which should be
cleared.
A Survey was carried out and 43 houses were included in the
figure submitted to the Minister, 39 of which it was thought would
be included in Clearance Areas and the remainder dealt with as
individually unfit houses. None of the proposed Clearance Areas
is large and the sites therefore do not lend themselves to extensive
redevelopment. Of the 43 houses listed, 6 have already been
demolished by the owners without statutory action being invoked
by the Council, 4 have been included in a declared Clearance Area
and in one case a demolition order has been made. Although the
problem in Wembley is a small one, the rehousing of displaced persons
is not easy having regard to the Council's commitments and
liabilities for the rehousing of other families. Wembley has practically
reached saturation point and there is virtually no land available in
the Borough for the erection of more Council houses or flats.
Section 26 of the Act provides that where an owner has served
notice of increase of rent the occupier may apply to the local authority
for a certificate that either or both of the conditions justifying an
increase of rent are not fulfilled; the conditions being that the
dwelling house is in good repair and that it is reasonably suitable for
occupation having regard to the matters specified in Section 9 of the
Act. The local authority, if satisfied that the dwelling house fails
tc fulfil either or both of the conditions must issue a certificate in
the prescribed form During the year 40 applications were received
from tenants and 39 certificates were issued; one was refused.
Where after the granting of a certificate the landlord has executed
to the satisfaction of the local authority such work as requires to be
executed, the local authority must on the application of the landlord
revoke the certificate. 21 such applications were received of which
19 were allowed and 2 were refused.
When the Act became operative it was thought that quite onerous
responsibilities would be placed on local authorities and their officers
by large numbers of applications with consequent inspections but
this has not proved to be the case. One inference which might be
drawn is that the permitted increases of rent under the Act do not
make it worth while for landlords to attempt to raise rents on account
of the risk of being put to considerable expense.
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