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HOUSING
Inspection of Houses
Although the Housing Act required local authorities to carry out the
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 the year twenty-two applications for standard grants were
received. All the eighteen of those approved were in respect of owneroccupied
houses. Eighty-seven enquiries were received about obtaining a
discretionary grant; eleven were approved in principle. Of the seventeen
discretionary grants approved in detail during the year, all 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 house
included twenty-nine which were already the subject of confirmed
Clearance Orders, thirty-nine the subject of confirmed Demolition Orders