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36
SECTION D.
HOUSING.
The year 1935 may be said to mark an epoch in the history
of housing legislation by reason of the coming into force of the
Housing Act, 1935. Prior to the passing of this Act housing
legislation had mainly provided for
(a) The provision of housing accommodation by local
authorities;
(b) The abolition of slum areas and unfit houses.
The new Act, among other things, attacked the housing
problem from an entirely new angle, that of overcrowding.
Dealing with this outstanding feature, the Act brought
about .
(1) The establishment of a national standard of
crowding;
(2) Subject to certain safeguards made it a punishable
offence to exceed that standard in any dwelling.
Thus we have a national standard of overcrowding
introduced by legislation for the first time. This new standard
is considered by some critics to be too low, but it must be
remembered that this was a new departure in housing legislation.
The Ministry of Health has pointed out in a Memorandum on
the Act that the standard does not represent any ideal standard
but the minimum which is in the view of Parliament tolerable,
while at the same time capable of immediate or early
enforcement.
The Act imposed certain definite duties upon local
authorities, including:—
(a) To cause an inspection to be made before a date to
be fixed by the Minister of Health to ascertain
which houses are overcrowded within their
areas;
(b) To prepare and submit to the Ministry a report
showing the result of such inspection and the
number of new houses required to abate such
overcrowding, as well as at a later date to
prepare and submit to the Ministry proposals
for the provision of such houses.