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HOUSING
Representation of the remaining properties on the Council's housing programme
proceeded, and active steps were taken before the end of the year for the acquisition of some
of the properties represented.
In the course of the year, the rehousing of all families in property represented in 1951
was carried out, and the properties were demolished.
In 1956, 49 houses were represented for demolition and 4 for closure. In respect of 12
of these houses, a County Court appeal decided the acceptance of an undertaking to render
the houses fit. 16 families were rehoused during 1956 from these condemned properties.
The preliminary programme of slum clearance submitted to the Minister of Housing and
Local Government in August, 1955, is nearing completion.
Certificates of Disrepair
During the year 4 applications have been received, of which 3 were granted. There
were also 9 applications for Certificates of Revocation, 7 of which were granted and 2 rejected.
Since the Act came into force 59 applications for Certificates of Disrepair have been received,
and 23 applications for Certificates of Revocation have been granted and 5 rejected.
Overcrowding
The number of persons asking for assistance in obtaining housing on grounds of overcrowding
was as high as in 1955, but the number confirmed on inspection as being
statutorily overcrowded was lower, and the number remaining on the Department register of
overcrowded families was reduced in 1956.
Houses Let in Lodgings
Towards the end of 1954 several houses were purchased and occupied as lodging houses
by male coloured immigrants, the usual arrangement being for a number of beds to be placed
in each room and all the occupants of the house to share a communal kitchen.
The Council were concerned about conditions generally and the excessive number of
men accommodated in these houses, and decided to apply the provisions of Section 12 of the
Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954.
A permitted number based on floor area, was fixed for each room regarded as suitable for
sleeping accommodation and formal notice of these standards served on the person having
control of the house. These notices have been accepted and the conditions observed by the
persons concerned and have proved a useful means of control.
Occupation of further houses continues, and 20 houses were dealt with during 1956,
making a total of 41.
Middlesex County Council Act, 1944—Section 345
There are two sites in the Borough on which caravans are used as living accommodation.
The first, on the junction of Regina Road and Pluckington Place, has been established for
many years as the winter quarters of a member of the Showmen's Guild. On the second,
in the south-westerly corner of the Borough, at the junction of the two branches of the Grand
Union Canal, are two caravans occupied, with the approval of the Local and County
Authorities, for a limited period of five years from 1954.
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