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If an undertaking given either to a tenant or a local authority is not complied
with within the stipulated six months, the same consequences will follow as if a
Certificate of Disrepair had been issued. When a Certificate of Disrepair has been
issued the Act provides for the reduction of the new rent and protects the tenant against
any further increase in rent until the repairs have been satisfactorily carried out.
This arrangement is very cumbersome and seems heavily weighted to the landlord's
advantage. In the first place, a tenant has to prepare a schedule of defects and serve
a notice on the landlord in the official form, and this has proved to be beyond the
capacity of many, particularly the aged. The landlord need not reply to the notice for
six weeks, and may then give an undertaking to do the work. He then has up to six months
in which to do what may be urgent works, before he suffers any financial penalty.
If an owner does not give an undertaking to the tenant, application can be made
for a Certificate of Disrepair, but the local authority must give notice of their intention
to Issue one, so giving the landlord a final chance to agree voluntarily to do the work.
It seems reasonable to provide an opportunity for landlords and tenants to agree
on the necessity for repairs before assistance of the local authority Is involved, but
there is apparently no reason when this has failed why the local authority should not be
empowered to issue a Certificate of Disrepair immediately. It seems quite unnecessary
to give prior notice to a landlord that it is intended to issue a Certificate or to give
him another opportunity of giving an undertaking.
In order to protect a tenant from delaying tactics by a landlord who, from his
previous history, is unlikely to honour his undertaking, provision is made for Local
Authorities to refuse to accept undertakings where:-
(a) a previous Certificate of Disrepair has been issued against the landlord in
respect of the dwelling or any part thereof;
(b) the local authority have previously been obliged in respect of a Housing Act
notice to carry out works in default and recover the cost from the owner;
(c) the landlord has previously failed to comply with an undertaking to repair in
respect of any dwelling in the area of the local authority;
(d) the landlord has been convicted of contravening or falling to comply with a
nuisance order.
Summary of Rent Act procedure as it affects the Public Health Inspector's Section
The landlord must serve notice of increase on the tenant (form "A"), which does
not take effect for three months after service. He may not do so if the property is in
a clearance area or does not fulfil certain other qualifications.
The amount of increase may not exceed 1% times the Gross Value of the property,
Plus rates and Inprovements increase if the tenant does all the repairs, or twice the
gross value plus rates and improvements increase if the tenant is only responsible for
internal decorations. (Where the landlord is responsible for all repairs and decorations
it may be 2 1/3 times the gross value). The increase for improvements is limited to 8% of
the cost of the improvements. The increase must not exceed 7/6d. a week in the first
instance,.
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