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43
HOUSING
Inspection of Houses
Although the Housing Act required local authorities to carry out
systematic inspection of houses, this routine work has not been started
since the war. Most inspections are carried out on receipt of a complaint
and to obtain the carrying out of the necessary work, reliance is placed
more on the provisions of the Public Health Acts than on those of the
Housing Acts.
Repair of Houses
Improvement Grants. The Housing Act, 1949 authorised local
authorities to give assistance in respect of the provision of dwellings by
means of the conversion of houses or other buildings and of the improvement
of dwellings. Later legislation amended these provisions. In this
district little use has been made of the powers granted in the original Act
or in the amending Acts. What has been done has been mostly in respect
of owner-occupied houses.
The 1959 Act introduced the standard grant which relates to the
provision of specific items of improvement to be carried out on houses
built before 1944. During this last year thirty-two applications for standard
grants were received. Of the twenty-three of those approved, fourteen
were in respect of owner-occupied houses. Twenty-nine enquiries were
received about the possibility of a discretionary grant; twenty-eight were
approved in principle. Of the twenty discretionary grants approved in
detail during the year, eighteen were in respect of owner-occupied houses.
Slum Clearance Programme
The Council's proposals submitted to the Minister in August, 1955,
for dealing with unfit houses in the district referred to 577 properties. It
was expected that the clearing and replacement of these houses would be
carried out in five years.
At the time the survey was completed in April, 1955 the 577 houses
included twenty-nine which were already the subject of confirmed
Clearance Orders, thirty-nine the subject of confirmed Demolition Orders
and 115 about which action had already been started. This 115 included
the ninety-one houses in the Northolt Road areas, four in Pinner Hill
Road, ten in Palmerston Road, four in Crown Street and six at Little
Common. In April, 1955 then 183 of the 577 houses were the subject of
some action.
The position at the end of I960 was that of the twenty-nine properties
in clearance areas, all but five (Brewery Cottages, Stanmore) have been
demolished. Of the thirty-nine the subject of confirmed Demolition Orders,
all but five have been demolished. (Four of these are in the Poets Corner
area, the other in Alma Road). Of the 115 about which action had already
been started, twenty-two have been demolished (of the remainder, eightynine
are in the Northolt Road redevelopment area and the other four are
in Crown Street).