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22
HOUSING INSPECTION.
During the year two hundred and seventy-seven houses
were inspected under the Housing Regulations, attention beintr
directed to the points especially mentioned in the Local Government
Board's Order.
In no case, was it found necessary to apply to the Council
for Closing Orders, but in 203 of the premises inspected, defects
were found to exist, which necessitated some action, in order
to secure the remedying of the various defective conditions.
In this district there are a very few houses which have
basements, and I think that it can be accepted, that there are no
rooms to which Section 17, Sub-section 7, of the Housing and
Town Planning Act, 1909, applies.
Occasionally cases of premises being overcrowded are discovered,
and are at once remedied.
The streets in which inspections were made are as follows:—High
Path, Abbey Road, Vernon Avenue, Dorien Road
and Edna Road. In 14 instances it was found that the houses,
which originally were intended to house one family, were
occupied by two or more families. These cases are often only
discovered by severe cross-questioning by the inspecting officer,
or by information received from other sources. I am sorry to
have to express the opinion that I do not always get the truth
with regard to the number of persons sleeping in a house.
The only way in which this could be accomplished would
be to strengthen the existing bye-laws, relating to houses let in
lodgings, and to establish a register, and adopt a system of
evening inspection.
During the year the yards of 63 houses have been paved
with impervious material, where previously the yards were
composed merely of ashes, clinkers, or just ordinary earth. The