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49
Part IV of the Act deals with overcrowding. It is the duty of a
local authority to inspect and make reports and proposals as to overcrowding.
(S. 70.) A dwelling is overcrowded if the number of persons
sleeping in it is
(a) such that two or more such persons of ten years of age or older
of opposite sexes, not being persons living together as husband
and wife, must sleep in the same room; or
(b) more than the permitted number defined in the sixth schedule.
The permitted number of persons is defined as the smaller number of
two, the one calculated on the number of rooms, the' other the aggregate
of all the rooms, each room being calculated according to its floor area.
In the first calculation when a house consists of one room, the permitted
number is two, of two rooms 3, of three rooms 5, of four rooms 7½ and
five rooms 10. In calculating on the second basis, the permitted number
of a room with a floor area of 110 sq. ft. or more is two,
90-110 sq. ft. one and a half, 70-90 one, and 50-70 half. On each basis,
no regard shall be had to a room with a floor space of less than 50 sq. ft.
It is an offence for the occupier or the landlord of a dwelling to cause
or permit it to be overcrowded. The landlord or his agent must notify
the local authority of the existence of overcrowding within seven days of
his knowing of it.
In relation to all houses and dwellings in respect of which a local
authority are required to keep a Housing Revenue Account, an authority
shall secure that reasonable preference in the granting of tenancies is
given to persons who are occupying insanitary or overcrowded houses,
have large families or are living in insanitary housing conditions. (S. 113.)
The Medical Officer of Health shall make an official representation
in writing whenever he is of the opinion that a house is unfit for human
habitation, or that an area should be a clearance area. (S. 157.)
Rent Act, 1957. The objectives of this Act which came into force in
July are "enabling rented houses and flats to be put and kept in repair,
of increasing the total stock of rented accommodation, of securing a
better use of existing housing accommodation, and of making a beginning
on the restoration of a free market in rented houses "(Ministry of Housing
and Local Government Circular 32/57).
The Act freed from control houses in the Metropolitan Police
district with a rateable value in November. 1956, of over £40, all owneroccupied
houses and all other privately owned houses when let to new
tenants, except to a widow or other member of the family succeeding to a
statutory tenancy. On the 31st March, 1957, of the 63,912 houses and
flats in the district, 33,519 were of rateable value of £40 or under. The
landlord can neither increase the rent nor gain possession of a decontrolled
house until 6th October, 1958. The Act also allows limited increases in
the rent of houses still under rent control.
The rent to be paid will depend on the state of the house and on the
extent of the landlord's responsibility for repairs. If the landlord is