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* Water Supply to Watercloset.—Absence of, or inadequate.
(Note.—This can be dealt with under Bye-law 102 of the Council's Building Bye-laws.)
*Ashpit or other Receptacle for storage of House Refuse.—Absence of, or defective.
(Note.—This can be dealt with under Sec. 36 Public Health Act, 1875.)
*Painting of External Woodwork.—Insufficiency of paint to woodwork permitting decay.
Note.—The non-starred defects in the above table are included in the list of Common
Defects appearing on page 11, Clause 6, of the Manual of the Ministry of Health
on Unfit Houses, Volume 1. The starred defects are defects which have been
added to this list as a result of experience in Willesden.
The Principal Powers of the Council.
The following are the principal powers of the Council relative to the above common defects:—
Public Health Act, 1875, Section 91—Relating to Nuisances.
Housing, Town Planning, &c., Act, 1909, Section 17—Relating to Houses Unfit for Human
Habitation and Underground Sleeping Rooms. The Council have made regulations under
Section 17 (7) relating to underground sleeping rooms, dated 16th September, 1913.
Housing, Town Planning, &c., Act, 1919, Section 26—Relating to the power of making and
enforcing Bye-laws relative to houses let in lodgings. The Council have not made bye-laws
under this Section.
Section 28—Relating to houses not in all respects reasonably fit for human habitation.
Public Health Act, 1875, Section 91—Relating to Nuisances.
It is under this Section that the bulk of the work of remedying common defects is done in
Willesden. Difficulties however arise for the following reasons:—
(1) That no definition of a nuisance exists which includes without doubt the above common
defects. Section 91, Sub-section (1) states that " any premises in such a state as to be a nuisance
or injurious to health shall be deemed to be a nuisance liable to be dealt with summarily in
manner provided by this Act." Mr. Justice Wills referring to this Clause in the course of his
judgment in 1889 said, "It is clear that the expression ' premises in such a state as to be a
nuisance has not the wide application claimed for it by the respondents, who say that it is
answered by any premises on which a nuisance exists. If that were so, the enumeration of, at
all events, the several kinds of nuisance specified under the subsequent heads would be unnecessary.
We do not attempt to define every class of case to which the first head applies, but we think it
is confined to cases in which the premises themselves are decayed, dilapidated, dirty, or out
of order, as, for instance, where houses have been inhabited by tenants whose habits and ways
of life have rendered them filthy or impregnated with disease, or where foul matter has been
allowed to soak into walls or floors, or where they are so dilapidated as to be a source of danger
to life or limb." It would therefore appear that according to this interpretation of Mr. Justice
Wills a minority, if any, of the common defects enumerated above can be legally remedied at
the instance of the Council.
(2) That work of repairs is frequently carried out by the owner in an unsatisfactory manner
and as a result of the bad workmanship the premises soon come under the notice of the Sanitary
Inspector again.
The advantage of the procedure under Section 91 is that the owner gets an opportunity to
remedy the work in his own way and at his own expense to the satisfaction of the Council. On
default he is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding £5, and daily penalty not exceeding
£1 per day for the continuance of the nuisance. The Council is not involved in any financial
liability at all. No defendant has ever been mulcted in a daily penalty in Willesden and the
fines are in the majority of instances nominal.
Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act, 1909.
Section 17 of this Act relating to houses unfit for human habitation is a useful section, but
even if houses were represented as unfit for human habitation at the present time it would not
be practical to put this section into operation as it means the eviction of the tenant under a
Magistrates Order.
Sub-section 7 of this section defines certain classes of underground rooms as unfit for human
habitation, i.e., rooms the surface of the floor of which is 3 ft. below the adjoining ground, which
are not on the average 7 ft. high, and which do not comply with the Council's regulations relating
to underground sleeping rooms. It is to be noted however that as soon as these rooms are not
used for sleeping purposes no further action under the regulations is possible and the conditions
which have resulted in the closing of the rooms for sleeping may remain even if they are occupied
all day for living purposes. It would seem desirable that these regulations should apply to all
underground rooms in use whether used for sleeping by night or living by day.
Housing, Town Planning, &c., Act, 1919.—Section 26.
This enables the Council to make Bye-laws with regard to houses let in lodgings and includes
the registration and inspection of these houses. Under the Model Bye-laws the definition of
a lodging-house is as follows :—
"Lodging-house " means a house or part of a house intended or used for occupation by
the working classes and let in lodgings or occupied by members of more than one family.''