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9
In dealing with housing repairs the new standard of fitness still
leaves much to be desired. A local authority must decide whether
or not a house is unfit before action can be taken to secure necessary
repairs. The standard requires that the house shall be considered
unfit if, and only if, it is so far defective that it is not reasonably suitable
for occupation in that condition. Presumably no action can be taken
to enforce minor repairs and defects are to be allowed to become serious
before remedial action can be taken. The label " unfit house " should
be reserved for houses which are scheduled for early demolition.
Houses which require repair only could then be considered from a
different standpoint and more regard could be had to amenities and
appearance, which have such an effect on the happiness and comfort
of the occupants. Such items as defective plaster and badly fitting
doors and windows could then be considered on their own demerits
rather than on the grounds of actual prejudice to health, which is
difficult to sustain in many cases, especially where tenants are obviously
fit.
The necessity to rehouse displaced families now living in insanitary
conditions is an added burden on the overcrowded waiting lists. Is
it better for a family to live in a damp, dark and dreary basement with
enough room and privacy, than to eat and sleep crowded into a small
bedroom grudgingly made available by relatives or landladies of
" furnished " bedsitters ? These are the families who must compete
with the tuberculous, the severe cardiac cases and those who are
unfortunate enough to have been rehoused in requisitioned premises.
There has been comparatively little difficulty in securing necessary
repairs to houses. Lack of funds is still the main reason for neglect,
another being the lack of care taken by tenants in helping to maintain
their homes.
Routine inspections for reconditioning are to be resumed shortly
and a better impression will then be obtained as to whether the backlog
of neglect over the past fifteen years can be made up, and whether rent
increases are having the desired effect.
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
Some delay has been occasioned because the site proposed for the
installation of recording apparatus for the daily measurement of smoke
and sulphur dioxide was not acceptable to the Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research (Fuel Research Station) and no other suitable
site could be found. It has now been possible to site the apparatus at
the new Civil Defence Training Centre and it is hoped to commence
readings at an early date so that we can play our part in filling the gaps
in the knowledge of conditions in the London Area. It is not known yet
how far the proposals for a cleaner atmosphere envisaged in the Bill