View report page

18
for the proper completion and service of the numerous forms has
resulted in many informal and irregular procedures between landlord
and tenant. Now that the initial rush of rent increases and repair
jobs is over it would be appropriate to consider whether the tortuous
procedure involved in the issue of Certificates of Disrepair could be
streamlined to the benefit of all concerned. It is already obvious that,
when once the initial manoeuvres concerned with rent increases are
completed, there is very little recourse to Certificates of Disrepair.
As these have never carried any provision relating to the enforcement
of repairs the tenants will revert to the procedure of formal complaint
and will expect action to be taken under the Housing and Public
Health Acts.
It was not found possible, nor particularly desirable, to conduct
house to house surveys but action was taken to enforce repairs to
houses where the landlord had failed to give a satisfactory undertaking
and where essential and urgent items needed attention.
Caravan Dwellings
A caravan site was established in the Castelnau area where there
has already been undesirable development through the erection of
small factories and workshops on land being formerly the large gardens
of old residential property. The site owner and occupiers would have
been able to comply with the requirements of the Public Health Act,
1936 and the Byelaws but as permanent Town Planning consent was
not granted proper sanitary facilities were not provided. After
protracted legal action the caravans left the site in June, 1956, the last
remaining caravan being removed onto the highway where it remained,
occupied by man, wife and children, until finally towed away to the
Council Depot, in June 1957.
This experience showed that, whilst caravans may prove useful
for certain types of dwelling accommodation, the establishment of sites
in an already crowded area of mixed development is not a satisfactory
solution to the housing problem. The very compactness of a caravan
leads to the difficulty of finding adequate storage space when the van
is occupied as a permanent family dwelling. Inevitably, household
belongings and equipment come to be stored under and around the
van and makeshift sheds and shelters of various kinds soon bring
conditions of squalor and depression.
OVERCROWDING
The position with regard to statutory overcrowding continues to
improve, owing to the special consideration which such cases receive
when allocations of Corporation dwellings are made.
The number of overcrowded families rehoused during the year
was ten.