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114
Four properties the subject of Closing Orders were reconditioned and
the Orders lifted, the properties being 73 Byron Road, Wealdstone; 27
Mead Road, Edgware; 157 Pinner Road, Harrow; 14 St. Kilda's Road,
Harrow.
Over the period under review eleven families were rehoused by the
Council from dwellings the subject of Orders made pursuant to the Housing
Acts.
HOUSING ACT, 1969
Reference is made in the introduction to this section of the Report to
the Housing Act of 1969 and to the volume of work that resulted from this
particular Act. It is associated, among other things, with the conversion
of controlled tenancies to regulated tenancies and is linked closely with
the Rent Act of 1968.
By the end of the year 1,765 applications had been received in respect
of the conversion of "controlled" to "regulated" tenancies—a term
introduced by recent Housing and Rent Acts. The controlled tenancies in
question being those that were not freed from control by the Housing Act,
1957. In the London area this included all properties which, at the time
when the 1957 Act came into operation, had a rateable value of £40 or less.
The Housing Act, 1969 enables the owners of dwellings with controlled
tenancies to apply to the Rent Officer to have a Fair Rent registered but
before applying to the Rent Officer the owner must obtain a "Qualification
Certificate" from the Local Authority, stating that the dwelling satisfies the
qualifying conditions, namely
"that it is provided with all the standard amenities for the exclusive
use of its occupants; that it is in good repair having regard to its age,
character and locality, and disregarding internal decorative repair,
that it is in all other respects fit for human habitation."
Of the 1,765 applications received, more than ninety-eight per cent of
the properties concerned had all the standard amenities (bath, wash-hand
basin, hot water, internal watercloset), but few were found to be in a good
state of repair. Most applications, therefore, gave rise to meetings with
owners and either agents or contractors and ultimately to works of repair
and reconditioning being undertaken.
Generally speaking, owners were co-operative and a considerable
amount of improvement work was carried out. There were some owners,
however, who objected to meeting the requirements of the Department on
the grounds that the work they were asked to carry out exceeded that which
a Local Authority could demand under either the Housing or Public
Health Acts, in respect of property let at a higher rent. While this is true,
much was accomplished and the situation in respect of the maintenance of
property should continue to improve.