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78
Bye-laws under this section were drafted and approved by the Council in 1920 but having
regard to the wide meaning of the term "Lodging-house" the Bye-laws were not submitted
to the Ministry of Health for sanction. Bye-laws, if made under this section, would give the
Council power to compel the provision of—
a watercloset in the proportion of 1 watercloset to every 12 persons inhabiting a house ;
a water supply ; and
washing accommodation,
in positions readily accessible to each family. The Model Bye-laws however do not provide
for a sink and sink waste for each tenement in a readily accessible position.
Section 28.
This section gives the Council power to require the owner to remedy defects in houses not
in all respects reasonably fit for human habitation. Such defects, i.e., defects rendering a house
not in ail respects reasonably fit for human habitation, might include all the common defects
mentioned earlier in this report, subject to the right of appeal by the owner to the Ministry
of Health. The Council therefore under this section have power to call upon the owner to remedy
these defects. If he fails the Council can execute the work and recover the costs incurred. A
right of appeal to the Ministry of Health is given to the owner in respect of the Council's requirements
as to work or statement of charges.
This method is advantageous in so far as it enables the Council to get the work done or to
do the work, but it places the following additional burdens upon the Council where the owner
fails to carry out the work specified:—
(a) The preparation of a specification suitable to be put out to tender.
(b) The acceptance of a tender after competitive prices have been obtained.
(c) The strict supervision of the work while in progress so as to be able to prove if necessary
that the specification has been carried out in complete detail.
(d) The keeping of accounts and recovery of costs. Costs are usually recovered not as
lump sums but by instalments. In Acton I am informed that a sum of £8,000, being
a portion of the money expended by the Council during the past few years is still in
process of collection. It may be that the enforcement of this procedure by the Council
may in the long run be the means of getting the owner to do the work himself rather
than to be charged for it by the Council. On the other hand many of the properties
on which such work is done are properties of inferior construction and in these cases
even after the Council has done the necessary work the property soon comes under
review again and before the debt incurred has been wiped off.
Having regard to all the above considerations I am of opinion that the Council should aim
at the following extensions, amendment or consolidation of the law:—
(1) An extension of Section 91 of the Public Health Act, 1875, on the following lines:—
For purposes of this Act "any premises in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious
to health" shall include premises on which one or other of the following defects or conditions
exist:—
Paving to Yards.—Absence of, broken or defective, causing pools to accumulate or dampness
of walls.
Paving to Forecourts.—Absence of, broken or defective, causing pools to accumulate or dampness
of walls.
Site.—Not treated so as to secure effectual protection against dampness, effluvia or exhalation.
Roots.—Tiles or slates loose or broken; flashings, defective or perished; eaves, gutters or rain
water pipes defective or broken.
Walls.—Defective pointing allowing damp to strike through; defective external plaster peeling
off in patches or allowing wet to accumulate at the back of the plaster; damp-proof course
cracked, perished, or otherwise become ineffective; ground banked up above the level of
the damp-proof course, causing dampness in the walls; defective internal plaster, badly
cracked or breaking off in patches or soft ; dirty or loose wall paper.
Ceilings.— Plaster badly cracked, loose, falling off in patches, or dirty or sodden with filth.
Floors.—Broken, cracked, too thin to be safe or so rough as to be very difficult to keep clean ;
ventilation under—insufficient; absence of, or broken or defective paved floors ; defective
hearths or ash holes.
Stairs.—Broken treads or risers, or broken handrails or balusters ; want of handrails or balusters.
Windows.—Perished or rotted frames or sashes ; broken hinges, cords or window fasteners ;
lighting insufficient.
Doors.—Doors so swollen or warped that they will not shut properly ; broken hinges or fasteners.
Ventilators or Flues.—Stopped up or broken.
Cupboards.—Insufficient or defective.