[Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Godalming Borough.

  • Godalming (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Godalming Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/30 (page 20)
    claimed as a right; the grant cannot be refused provided certain conditions are satisfied. Even if a house has one or more of the five amenities grant can be paid to provide the remainder; there are few restrictions and in some cases it is possible for the Council or a Building Society to help with a generous loan towards that part of &he cost to be borne by the owner. Discretionary Grants are available for a wide range of more extensive forms of improvements, including the conversion or adaptation of larger houses and other buildings, and can include such items as the remedy of inherent structural defects, provision of adequate natural lighting and ventilation, provision of adequate facilities for heating, adequate points for electric lighting, etc. The replacement of existing but obsolete, damaged or inefficient facilities or equipment does not normally rank for grant Discretionary Grants, as the name implies, are given at the complete discretion of the Council; if the Council do not like the proposed scheme it can be turned down. If the scheme meets the Council’s requirements the grant can be as much as £40^ for each dwelling produced - £500 if flats are produced by the conversion of a house of three or more storeys. In 1964 the Council resolved to install the five basic amenities in all 400 houses owned by them which lacked these amenities. Works commenced in that same year and by the end of 1965 works to approximately 150 houses had been completed and the remaining houses on the Ockford Ridge estate were expected to be completed early in 1966. The remaining houses in the Farncombe area, approximately 250, have yet to be surveyed before plans can be drawn up to deal with these houses on the same basis as the Ockford Ridge houses. Landlords and owner occupiers have been encouraged to take advantage of the generous financial aid available through both these schemes and to date 46O applications have been dealt with. Intending applicants are advised to discuss their proposals in outline at an early stage so that the project may meet with the Council's usual requirements and a submitted application can be dealt with in the shortest possible time. COMPULSORY IMPROVEMENTS Under powers contained in the Housing Act, 1964, the Council can require owners, in certain circumstances, to improve their houses. Action to secure compulsory improvement of tenanted dwellings can be initiated in two ways. The Local Authority can either, declare an area to be an Improvement Area or a tenant of a house can request the Local Authority to enforce the provision of amenities in the house he occupies. The procedure for enforcing the provision of amenities, although similar in each case, is long and complicated. In Godaiming according to the I96I Census 1,105 houses lacked one or more of the basic amenities. At the end of 1965 it was estimated that 412 houses both private and Council,’ and both with and without the aid of grants, had been improved and now possessed all five basic amenities leaving approximately 69O houses still to be dealt with. It is estimated that 250 of these are Council houses and 90 other houses are listed for inspection and report in the next Slum Clearance Programme. This leaves approximately 550 houses requiring improvement and no doubt a proportion of these will be owner occupied houses to'which the Council's compulsory powers under the Act of 1964 do not apply. The aim is to secure improvements to all structurally sound houses within 10 years and at a current rate in excess of 50 applications per year together with concentrated publicity in selected areas, the use of compulsory powers to obtain individual improvements on the application of the tenant this target should be achieved well within the suggested period. INSPECTION AND REPAIR During the year a total of 44 houses were repaired and made fit as a result of informal or formal procedure under the Housing and Public Health Acts resulting from inspections made following complaints by tenants or surveys and inspections carried out in conjunction with other work.