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76
Housing, Town Planning, &c., Act, 1909.
A large number of the least satisfactory dwelling houses were inspected during
the years 1910 and 1911, and were reported upon to the Public Health Committee.
Closing Orders were made in respect of dwelling houses in several courts, but the
owner of two houses in Regents Place made an application to the High Court for an
injunction restraining the Council from proceeding further with the closing orders on
the technical ground that the form of the Orders was not in accordance with the form
prescribed by the Local Government Board. The application was heard in the
Chancery Division on the 21st June, 1911, when the Judge decided that the words
following the seal and signature in the Local Government Board's form were intended
to be a part of the form, and these words having been omitted from the Council's
Orders (for the reason that they were looked upon as being merely inserted for the
the purpose of assisting the person who filled up the form), the Judge held that the
Closing Orders were void.
This ambiguity in the Board's instructions as to the form of Order to be adopted,
led to similar errors being made by several local authorities throughout the country.
In view of the foregoing, the Council did not proceed to make demolition orders
in respect of any of the dwelling houses with regard to which they had purported
to make closing orders, but notwithstanding this, the owners of some of the houses
did not reopen them or make any attempt to improve their condition, but kept
them uninhabited until fresh Closing Orders were made.
Closing Orders have been made for houses in the following Courts, and nothing
has yet been done to improve their condition:—
(1) Miller's Court.
(2) Adelaide Court.
(3) Crown Court.
(4) Tenter Court.
Miller's Court.—This Court, which contains 7 houses, is situated as in a well
with high buildings all round it, and the entrance is through a narrow covered
entrance. On account of the position of the houses in the Court there is stagnation
of air, and the conditions are injurious to health.
They are two-roomed houses without through light and ventilation. They have,
therefore, all the bad qualities of back-to-back houses. There are no damp-proof
courses. As the brickwork is old, the rain water soaks through the bricks and the
dampness creeps up from the earth. In some cases the dampness is hidden by boards.
The windows of No. 7 are directly opposite and within 3½ feet of the doors of
the water-closets which are common to all the houses.