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21, Coombe Road, Hampton (Owner/Occupied);
15, Watts Lane, Teddington;
11, Tudor Road, Hampton.
All the dwellings included in the above report were dealt with by way of formal
action under the Housing Act, 1957; in addition, repairs were effected at 240 dwellings
after informal consultation with the owners, and 77 other dwellings were made fit for
human habitation after the service of statutory notices under the Public Health Acts.
The action taken to remedy unfit houses is summarised in the table below:
(a) Clearance Areas represented to Council 1
(b) Dwellings included in (a) above 6
(c) Dwellings demolished after Clearance Orders made 1
(d) Dwellings represented for Demolition or Closing Orders 50
(e) Undertakings received to carry out repairs 3
(f) Closing Orders made in respect of —
(i) Whole of building 22
(ii) Part of building 6
(g) Demolition Orders made 18
(h) Closing Orders determined on a building being made fit 8
(i) Demolition Orders revoked 4
(j) Undertakings cancelled on a building being made fit 1
(k) Dwellings in which defects were remedied after service of formal notice 77
(!) Dwellings in which defects were remedied after informal action 240
(2) Houses in Multiple Occupation
The Housing Act, 1969, Part IV, contains a new definition for a house in multiple
occupation being "a house which is occupied by persons who do not form a single
household", the former definition referring to "a house which is occupied by members
of more than one family".
Some difficulty had arisen in the past in houses occupied by persons all claiming
some family relationship where, on inspection, it seemed clear that there were a number
of households sharing unsatisfactory domestic facilities. The new definition enables local
authorities to improve conditions in these properties.
The new Act also gives an additional power to local authorities to close any part
of a house in multiple occupation which is not provided with adequate means of escape
in case of fire and cannot be provided with such means at a reasonable expense.
The Housing Officer has continued to refer cases where applications for rehousingindicated
multiple occupation problems. His co-operation in this aspect of unsatisfactory
housing has enabled action to be taken with a minimum of hardship to the
occupants.
Further progress has been made in implementing the Council's standard in these
houses, and as owners show willingness to adopt these reasonable provisions for multiple
lettings after informal consultation, fewer statutory proceedings have been necessary.
Formal action taken during the year is shown below:
(1) Number of Management Orders made Nil
(2) Number of Directions made 3
(3) Number of Notices served requiring additional amenities Nil
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