View report page

One condition for making a standard grant is that after providing the amenities the house
must be capable of being maintained fit for human habitation for a period of 15 years.
Where properties are inspected as houses in multiple occupation and informal notices
served upon the owners to provide amenities which are lacking, it is often possible to encourage
owners to take advantage of such grants.
In the case of both discretionary and standard grants the following conditions apply for
three years:-
(1) if a house is not occupied by an applicant or member of his family it must
be let or kept available for letting and must not be sold;
(2) the house must be used only as a private dwelling;
(3) the house must be kept fit for human habitation.
If any of these conditions are broken the local authority can require repayment of grant
equivalent to one-third of grant for each year remaining of the three years period plus compound
interest.
The rents chargeable are;-
(1) for controlled houses, as in the Rent Act. 1957 (twice gross rateable value)
plus 12½& per cent. per annum of owner's cost of work;
(2) in decontrolled houses, maximum rent is 1963 gross rateable value plus
12½ per cent. of owner's cost of work plus rates and any charges for furniture
or fittings.
The numbers of grants made by the Council during 1965 were:-
Discretionary grants 81
Standard grants 113
MEDICAL ASPECTS OF REHOUSING
The Council's housing points scheme allows for a limited number of "health points"
(they are in fact illhealth points) to be added to applications where medical conditions make
rehousing advisable; however, even the maximum number of points so awarded is small, compared
with those allowed for other conditions which make up housing need.
Nevertheless, a great many people submit certificates or letters from their family doctors
and other agencies in support of their housing application. Each such recommendation has to be
examined carefully, for some refer to a medical condition of a transient nature, whilst in other
cases the condition is unlikely to be greatly benefited by rehousing. The evaluation of all such
cases has been the particular responsibility of the Deputy Medical Officer of Healthwhohad
considerable experience in this field before the advent of Camden, and cases of overwhelming
need are reported by me to the Housing Committee after consultation with other departments,
such as the Children's and Welfare Departments, where appropriate. This practice is in broad
accordance with that followed in the former Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras. Having mind to
the length of the housing waiting list such cases can, regrettably, only be rare indeed, yet each
application for medical priority must nevertheless be looked into, and almost always further
investigation is undertaken before a decision is reached. In some, the public health inspector,
health visitor, or geriatric visitor is asked to comment, whilst in others a telephone call to the
doctor or social worker raising the case suffices.
During the year more than 2.000 medical certificates have been so "processed"; (this
number Includes those who, already Council tenants, wish to transfer and support their application
upon medical grounds), and some 300 of the apparently more urgent cases were visited by my
deputy in their homes.
22