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letter was sent to the owner of the premises warning him against
re-letting the dwelling so as to cause further overcrowding. The
dwelling was re-visited in August, 1938, and it was discovered that
re-overcrowding had been permitted by the owner when he re-let
the rooms in January, 1938, so that less than three months had
elapsed between the removal of the overcrowded family and the
occurrence of renewed overcrowding. On the 2nd September, 1938,
the owner was informed that he had committed an offence under
Section 59 of the Housing Act, 1936, and that the matter would
be brought to the notice of the appropriate Committee of the
Council. The Public Health Committee authorised legal proceedings
against the owner, and the Magistrate ordered the hearing
of the summons to be adjourned sine die, as the owner had previously
obtained an ejectment order against the tenant, who did,
in fact, vacate the premises on the 20th October, 1938, thus abating
the overcrowding.
The inspection of rent books to see that these books contain
a summary of the overcrowding provisions of the Housing Act,
1936, and the number of persons permitted to occupy the dwelling,
is carried out by the Sanitary Inspectors at each house at which
they call as a routine measure, and during the year it was necessary
to send 604 warning letters, representing 1,494 dwellings, informing
the persons responsible for letting the dwellings that they had failed
to comply with the requirements of Section 62 (1) of the Housing
Act, 1936. There were, however, 279 applications as regards 5,120
dwellings received from landlords requesting information as to the
number of persons permitted to occupy the houses under their
control.
In June, 1938, there remained 43,302 dwellings in the Borough
for which no application had been made or information forwarded
to landlords, but this figure was reduced by 6,614 dwellings before
the close of the year. Therefore, there remain 36,688 dwellings
to be dealt with.
In carrying out the requirements of Section 62 (1) of the
Housing Act, 1936, a certain amount of difficulty is experienced
with regard to landlords who have let dwellings on an understanding
(sometimes contained in a written agreement) that the dwelling will
not be occupied by more than a certain number of persons, this
number being considerably smaller than the "permitted" number
of persons allowed by the Act. If the landlord inserts in the rent
book the correct permitted number of persons, some friction arises
between landlord and tenant, as, for example, when the tenant
proceeds to fill the dwelling to the full limit allowed under the
Act. Further, the Act does not forbid the use of the living room
as a bedroom, although the agreement between landlord and tenant