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69
Last year I reported "that the absence of sufficient houses at
reasonable rents militates more than anything else against
improvement in the sanitary condition of the houses."
Applicants for every vacant house being so numerous, the
landlord is master of the situation, and the bad landlord has no
inducement but the pressure of the sanitary authority, to
maintain his property in good condition. The effect of this
state of things is that tenants are afraid to complain of any
existing nuisance, and the visit of the sanitary inspector is
regarded with dread by many, as being a preliminary either to
notice to quit, or to a demand to do the repairs themselves,
or at least to a rise of rent. Of course I am only referring here
to bad landlords.
91. Inspector's Work (See Table IX.)—2705 houses were
inspected house to house, compared with 3518 in 1899. In
addition 4460 were inspected for infectious diseases and
complaints, compared with 3736 in 1899.
312 damp walls were remedied compared with 453 and 510
in the two preceding years.
92. Prosecutions.—2017 intimation notices were sent and
330 were followed by statutory notices; 85 of these not having
been attended to were reported to the Vestry Clerk for proceedings,
and after the Clerk had written to each of the
defaulters, 20 summonses were issued against those who
disregarded the Clerk's letter. Particulars of the prosecutions
are given in table X. One case was withdrawn by order of the
Committee, three cases were adjourned, but all the rest were
decided in favour of the Vestry. Apart from the penalty
imposed on the Guardians the highest fine was two pounds for
letting a new house without having obtained a certificate of a
proper water supply, and in two similar cases fines of 20/- each
were imposed. In the remaining cases the highest fine was 7/-,
and the highest costs allowed 13/-.