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for the position to be judged with any degree of accuracy,
but records are being built up which will in time enable
us to see what is happening in the Borough.
I am now calling upon landlords to see that rent books
contain the prescribed information with regard to overcrowding
and in particular the "permitted number" of occupants. This
is a statutory requirement which has rather fallen into disuse
during the war years.
On the question of standard, there is no doubt that a
house can be occupied to the point of discomfort and yet
be within the legal overcrowding limit. The "permitted
number" of occupants is assessed by measuring rooms in
accordance with a prescribed formula and making use of certain
tables, but as living rooms have to be taken into account the
result is inevitably a figure which is disconcertingly high.
On the other hand when premises are legally overcrowded it does
mean that extremely bad conditions exist. When this standard
was fixed in 1935 it was stated that it did not represent any
ideal standard of housing, but the minimum which was in the
view of Parliament tolerable while at the same time capable
of immediate or early enforcement. It is to be hoped that
the housing situation throughout the country will soon enable
a standard to be set which is more in keeping with modern
ideas of comfort and decency.
In particular It is hoped that the child under one year of
age will no longer be Ignored in counting the number of occupants,
and that children under 10 will rank as a full unit instead of
only one-half.
DRAINAGE.
The system of drainage widely adopted in this Borough
in the past has permitted the connection of a number of house
drains to a "common" or "combined" drain for the maintenance
of which the various owners are jointly responsible.
Frequent difficulties have arisen in connection with these
combined drains when works of cleansing or repair have become
necessary. The law relating to these drains is in itself complex,
and the Council has had a number of debates on the subject.
Without reiterating too much detail, the decisions reached
in an endeavour to overcome the problems were (a) that in future,
whenever possible, each house should be drained by a single pipe
drain to the main sewer, and if in individual cases this is not
possible, the number of houses drained by means of a combined
system of drainage be limited to six houses, and (b) that the
Senior Sanitary Inspector be authorised to undertake the cleansing
of combined drains known as "private sewers" at the expense of the
Town Council at the invitation of the owners concerned.
During the year 88 combined drains were unstopped and
cleansed by the Borough Surveyor's Department at my request.
Two combined drains ("private sewers") were repaired by the
Council and the cost of works recovered from the owners.
In a third case proceedings had to be institixted to
Recover from the owners the cost of works of repair carried
out by the Council during the preceding year.
22.