Definition of Standard of Fitness
4Matters to be taken into account in determining whether a house is unfit
(1)In determining for any of the purposes of this Act whether a house is unfit for human habitation, regard shall be had to its condition in respect of the following matters, that is to say—
(a)repair;
(b)stability;
(c)freedom from damp ;
(d)natural lighting;
(e)ventilation;
(f)water supply;
(g)drainage and sanitary conveniences ;
(h)facilities for storage, preparation and cooking of food and for the disposal of waste water ;
and the house shall be deemed to be unfit for human habitation if and only if it is so far defective in one or more of the said matters that it is not reasonably suitable for occupation in that condition.
(2)So much of any local enactment—
(a)as specifies defects by reason of which a house is to be deemed for the purposes of section nine of this Act not to be in all respects fit for human habitation, or
(b)as regulates the matters to be taken into consideration on an appeal under this Part of this Act in respect of a notice requiring the execution of works to remedy any defects so specified,
shall cease to have effect.
5Prohibition of back-to-back houses
(1)Notwithstanding anything in any local Act or byelaw in force in any borough or district, it shall not be lawful to erect any back-to-back houses intended to be used as dwellings for the working classes, and any such house shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be unfit for human habitation:
Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the erection or use of a house containing several tenements in which the tenements are placed back to back, if the medical officer of health for the borough or district certifies that the several tenements are so constructed and arranged as to secure effective ventilation of all habitable rooms in every tenement.
(2)This section shall apply to any house commenced to be erected after the third day of December, nineteen hundred and nine, except that it shall not apply to houses abutting on any streets, the plans whereof were approved by the local authority before the first day of May, nineteen hundred and nine, in any borough or district in which, on the third day of December, nineteen hundred and nine, any local Act or byelaws were in force permitting the erection of back-to-back houses.