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(7) be provided with a sink or sinks and with suitable arrangements
for the disposal of waste water;
(8) have a proper drainage system;
(9) be provided in each room with adequate points for gas or
electric lighting (where reasonably available);
(10) be provided with adequate facilities for heating;
(11) have satisfactory facilities for storing, preparing and cooking
food;
(12) have proper provision for the storage of fuel (where required).
Improvement is any work other than ordinary repairs needed to
bring a house up to the standard of comfort and convenience which is
expected in a modern home. The improvements most commonly made
in older houses consist of one or more of the following items: providing
an indoor water supply or bringing gas or electricity into the house from
a nearby main; in rural areas sinking a new well; putting in a bathroom
or an indoor w.c.; changing over from a cesspool to main drainage;
installing a hot water system, or standard kitchen equipment like sinks
and draining board; doing any work needed to put right any fundamental
defects in the structure of the house, such as remedying dry rot
and putting in a damp-proof course; changing the levels of ceilings,
floors or roofs in order to get a proper ceiling height; putting in a new
staircase to replace one that is inadequate by modern standards, or
badly placed; making new windows in order to improve the lighting
and ventilation; providing proper storage for food or fuel; adding an
extra room where it is necessary to provide adequate living space.
Conversion means dividing a large house or a pair of houses, or a
row into smaller self-contained flats or making a house or flats out of
a building built for some other purpose. The grant is up to half the cost
of the work of improvement or conversion, up to a limit of £400 a
dwelling, providing the cost of the work of improvement or conversion
is not less than £100.
The Council at their meeting on the 10th December, 1954, agreed
to exercise their powers under Section 20 of the Housing Act, 1949, and
Sections 16 and 37 of the Housing Repairs and Rent Act, 1954, for the
making of grants for the improvement and conversion of privately owned
dwellings to the extent that the cost upon the rate fund shall not exceed
£4,000 in any single year over a period of 25 years.
Overcrowding
The standard for the assessment of overcrowding was set out in the
Housing Act of 1936. In one table account is taken of the number of
rooms, the number of units permitted to occupy one room being 2, two
rooms 3, three rooms 5, four rooms 7½, and five rooms 10. The second
fable has regard to the sizes of the rooms. Any room of under 50 sq. ft.
is not counted. For a room of 50 to 70 sq. ft. the permitted number is
½ unit, for 70 to 90 1, for 90 to 110 1½ and for rooms of over 110 sq. ft.
2 units. The actual permitted number is the smaller of the numbers
calculated in this way. In taking into account the occupants of the