View report page

58
Reconditioning of Houses. If after a Closing Order has been made
and even where the family which were then living in the house had been
rehoused by the Council, the Owners do the work needed to make the
house fit for habitation, the local authority has to cancel the Closing
Order. A number of houses have been saved in this way. In some cases
at the time the Order was made, it was known what the owner's intention
was, but it was still necessary to make the Order so that the family could
be rehoused as the work which was required could not be done while the
house was occupied. The following houses which were the subject of
Orders have been or are to be reconditioned: 18 Byron Hill Road;
48-50 High Street, Harrow-on-the-Hill, and 10 Grange Road; 8,10 and
12 Roxeth Hill; 1 and 2 Springvilla Road, Edgware.
Certificates of Disrepair
The following is a summary of the applications received for the issue
of certificates of Disrepair under the Rent Act:
Number of Certificates granted 226
Number of applications not granted 9
Number of Undertakings accepted from owners 27
Number of Certificates cancelled upon application 20
Number of applications for a Certificate as to the remedying
of defects 148
Number of applications by Owners for Cancellation of
Certificates not granted 6
Overcrowding
The annual review of the state of overcrowding in the district shows
that once more there has been an improvement As compared with the
seventy-two cases known on 1st January, the number on 31st December
was only fifty-five. The net reduction of seventeen is the difference
between the forty-three cases in which the overcrowding was abated and
the twenty-six new cases.
In eighteen instances the abatement of the overcrowding was brought
about by the families being rehoused in council houses.
Of the twenty-six new cases, the overcrowding was caused by the
increase in the size of the family, by the ageing of the children, or by the
marriage of one of the children.
Of the fifty-five cases which were overcrowded at the end of the year,
fifteen were overcrowded by half a unit and twenty-two by one unit.
Seven families were living in premises overcrowded by 1| units, five in
premises overcrowded by two units and six in accommodation overcrowded
by 2½ units or more.
It is only when the overcrowding is by more than one unit that the
Council have up to this been able to entertain an application for re-housing
which is based solely on the grounds of overcrowding.
The greatest sufferers are some of the families living in one or two
rooms. Of the fifty-five overcrowded families, six occupy one room an
twenty-two two rooms. Of these latter, five families with an equivalent
number of 3½ units and thirteen families with an equivalent number