View report page

97
General Housing Matters.
The Council's two Housing Sanitary Inspectors have continued
their special duty ofsystematic house to house inspection of dwellinghouses,
and drawing up provisional or informal as well as legal
schedules of works required to render such dwelling-houses reasonably
fit in all respects for human habitation, under the powers
conferred upon the Borough Council, as the Local Housing Authority
under Section 3 of the Housing Act, 1925, representing a considerable
amount of repairs and improvements.
During the year 1927, 509 Notices of Intention to Survey have
been issued, and sent or given to the occupiers, and to the owners,
of the houses selected by the Medical Officer of Health, and approved
by the Public Health Committee on behalf of the Council, as
required under Section 127 of the Housing Act, 1925. 395 Surveys
or Inspections have been made, under the Housing Inspection Regulations
of the Housing Act, 1925, and 393 Provisional (or Informal)
Schedules prepared, as suggested by the Ministry of Health in its
Manual on Policy and Practice (Volume I., Chap. 6, paragraph i.),
setting forth the work required to render the houses fit in all respects
for human habitation, under Section 3 of the Housing Act, 1925.
395 Record Cards have been filed, 395 visits, and 10,680 re-visits
made, and many interviews held at the Town Hall, or elsewhere,
with owners, agents, builders and others concerned. 496 drain
tests have been made in connection with the official inspections.
It must be again mentioned that the Council has only appointed,
up to date, two housing inspectors. As has been pointed out, again
and again, in previous Annual Reports, more housing inspectors
are required to cope satisfactorily with the large numbers of houses
in the Borough (approximately 40,000.)
The preparation of the Provisional or Informal Schedules
involves a large amount of work and technical knowledge, as the
properties selected for systematic inspection during the year were
in a very bad state of repair, owing to neglect during the war (and
since), and, consequently, a large number of items had to be tabulated,
so as to avoid anything essential being omitted.
The Old Wards of the Borough have again been used, so as to
keep the present records in conformity with the previous records.
During the period of 12 months under review (1927), the following
roads, streets, and courts have been under survey (wholly
or in part), the total number of houses being given in brackets after
the name of each road, street, and court:—
g