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(2) Action taken during the year relating to Clearance Areas:
(a) Houses demolished by Local Authorities or owners:
(i) unfit 13
(ii) others —
(b) Number of people displaced:
(i) individuals 14
(ii) families 7
REPAIR AND IMPROVEMENT
The continuing process of house repair and improvement is achieved by the use of various
statutory powers and the methods are as follows:
(a) Landlords applying for qualification certificates are requested to bring the property concerned
up to a standard of good repair and schedules requiring repair works are sent out
where necessary. There must be satisfactory compliance with these schedules before
qualification certificates are issued.
(b) Improvement grants are given subject to the house concerned being brought up to a
similar standard of good repair.
(c) By use of the repair sections of the Housing Acts 1957/1969.
(d) By use of the nuisance provisions of the Public Health Acts 1936/61.
Since the procedure started in 1969 enabling landlords to obtain qualification certificates,
2,880 applications have been received and 1,764 qualification certificates have now been issued.
It is becoming increasingly evident, especially since the Housing Finance Act 1972 came into
operation which gives automatic decontrol of houses on future dates fixed in the Act in accordance
with rateable value, that owners will not now fulfil the requirements of the good repair provisions
to obtain qualification certificates. There are approximately 1,000 applications outstanding some
of which date back to early 1970.
Consideration is now being given to refusing these outstanding certificates and to serving
notices on landlords to require defects to be remedied which are enforceable by Public Health or
Housing Act notices. It must be remembered that the "good repair" standard required to obtain a
qualification certificate is not an enforceable standard for other purposes, and therefore only those
defects which constitute nuisances or fall within disrepair provisions of the Housing Act can be
included on statutory repair notices.
Although the qualification certificate procedure enables the landlord to obtain a fair rent it has
nevertheless been the means whereby the department has succeeded in getting many more houses
repaired than it would otherwise have done.
Applications for Qualification Certificates received during 1972:
Number of applications for Qualification Certificates received 227
Number of houses inspected 227
Number of applications for Qualification Certificates cancelled 65
Number of Qualification Certificates refused 80
Number of Qualification Certificates granted 507
Number of combined applications received (Improvement Grant
and Qualification Certificate) 23
Number of houses inspected 23
Number of Certificates of Provisional Approval issued 38
Number of combined applications granted 32
Number of combined applications refused —
Improvement Areas
Progress continues to be made in respect of the 4 areas declared by the Council under the
Housing Act 1964. This enabled the Council after declaring an improvement area to require landlords
81