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33
Fitness of Houses.
The general standard of housing in the District is good. There
are, however, two or three small areas where the housing conditions
are certainly not all that could be desired, due in some measure to
the manner in which the houses were erected, and will always be
more or less a trouble to this Department with respect to repairs
being required. Many of the tenants in the areas referred to do
not tend to maintain the property in a sanitary condition.
The general character of the defects found during the course of
house inspection is dirty walls and ceilings, unpaved area spaces
and general internal defects—many of which are due, of course, to
lack of proper management and supervision of owners. The general
excuse is that the increase in rent allowed by the Rent Restriction
Act is not sufficient to keep the property in a reasonable state of
repair, and that building material—without taking into consideration
the cost of labour—has increased to a greater extent since 1914.
Generally speaking, there are very few cases in this District of
waste or neglect by tenants; but, of course, these do occur as in
every other District, and it is very difficult to know how to deal
with tenants of this class. At various conferences, suggestions have
been made, but no practical solution appears to have been arrived
at with respect to tenants who have no regard for the premises in
which they reside.
The existing bye-laws, up to the present, have worked satisfactorily,
and I make no recommendation for their revision.
HOUSING STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR 1925.
Number of new houses erected during the year:—
(a) Total (including numbers given separately under (b)) 126
(b) With State assistance under the Housing Acts—
(i) By the Local Authority —
(ii) By other bodies or persons —