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44
Of the 394 properties on which no action had been started by the
time of the survey, 183 have been dealt with. Thirty-nine have been
demolished, thirty-seven are the subject of closing orders or demolition
orders, forty-one have been reconditioned, forty-three have been purchased
by the local authority and action is being taken in respect of twentythree.
Of the 577 houses in the original survey then, 119 have been demolished,
forty-one have been reconditioned and action has been or is being
taken in regard to 206.
This leaves 211 of the original 577 houses not yet dealt with. Two
developments since the date of the survey will result in it being necessary
to modify the programme, the effect of each of the changes being to
reduce the number of houses which will now have to be condemned. The
first is the change in legislation which has resulted in houses which could
correctly be described as unfit by the standards of the Housing Act, 1936
which were in operation at the time of the survey, being not classifiable as
unfit under the Housing Act of 1957. The other change is the result of
the Rent Act, 1957 which has made it economical to recondition houses
which it was uneconomical to do at the lower rents previously being
received. Notice had to be taken too of the decision of the Minister in
regard to the Northold Road properties. He excluded some houses which
had been represented as unfit, although they suffered from such serious
disadvantages as the absence of secondary means of access, the overshadowing
of living rooms by long back extensions and which had W.C.'s
opening into small sculleries. The combined effect of these changes might
well result in about half of these 211 houses being taken out of the
Council's Slum Clearance Programme.
Demolition of Houses
There are many houses which have been condemned but which are
still occupied because the Council has been unable to rehouse the
occupants. This has held up many houses being brought to the notice of
the Public Health Committee with a view to considering them being
made the subject of a Demolition or of a Closing Order, though some
houses have been found to be so unsatisfactory that this procedure can no
longer be delayed. One trouble is that when a house has been condemned,
naturally enough, the owners usually no longer carry out any repairs so
that the plight of the occupants, until such time as they have in fact been
rehoused, is worse than if the Committee had not condemned the dwellingSection
17 of the Housing Act, 1957 provides that where a local authority
would be required to make a Demolition or Closing Order in respect of a
house, they may, if it appears to them that the house is or can be rendered
capable of providing accommodation which is adequate for the time
being, purchase the house instead of making a Demolition or Closing
Order. The Public Health Committee agreed that before proceeding to
make a Demolition or a Closing Order in any particular case, the Housing
Committee might be asked if it is one which that Committee would wish
to purchase under the provisions of Section 17 and their views might then