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17
(a) Site.
"A dwelling-house built in a hollow, or in a situation not
"admitting effectual drainage, or exposed to malarial influences,
"or built in a manner, or on soil which causes or admits the air
"to be contaminated by injurious gasses, might be properly
"represented under section 30 of the ' Housing of the Working
"Classes Act, 1890.'
"The fact that a dwelling-house is built on a site so sur"rounded
by buildings that access of sufficient light and air is
"impossible, would, in our opinion, be a good ground for repre"sentation.
(b) Construction.
"Under this head would be classed original defect of plan;
"for example, a dwelling house improperly ventilated or lighted,
"or with the closet and dust-bin so situated as to cause nuisance
" within the house.
"Any condition which results in permanent dampness. Such
"faulty construction of chimney-flues as permits products of com"bustion
from adjoining premises to permanently contaminate
"the air of living-rooms.
(c) Age and General Want of Repair.
"This, when it reaches a degree of dilapidation, is obviously
"a just cause for representation.
(d) Nuisances.
"Bad drainage, faulty closets, filth per se, &c., are, in our
"opinion, grounds for action taken under the ' Nuisances Re"moval
and Sanitary Acts,' but where affecting a whole dwelling"house,
or where combined with faults of site and construction,
"and general want of repair, they justify action also under the
"'Housing of the Working Classes Act.'
"In all the above cases the question of 'degree' comes in;
"it is, indeed, this question of degree that renders precise defini"tion
impossible ; general principles can alone be laid down."