Properties Condemned under Section 56 of the Housing Act 1958 Files

Full description

Section 56 of the Housing Act 1958 (No.6275) enabled the Commission to declare any house unfit for human habitation and to alter or demolish houses accordingly.

The Housing Standards Branch was a division of the Housing Commission that ensured Section 56 was complied with. Housing Standards received reports about sub-standard housing and, after subsequent investigations, ordered repairs or demolitions to houses in both country and Melbourne metropolitan areas.

Each file contained the following information:

* A Report of Inspection of Dwelling.
* Certificate of title.
* Written reports by the Housing Inspector on particulars of non-compliance.
* A Declaration of the Housing Commission, under seal, proclaiming a house to be unfit for human habitation.
* Declarations proclaiming the demolition/repairs of a house.

The files also contain correspondence from the Secretary of the Housing Commission to tenants advising them of the date on which the house they were occupying was to be demolished. Some files contain correspondence from tenants appealing the decision of the Housing Commission.

Unit 239 contains information about tender applications, costs of demolitions and photographs illustrating sub-standard conditions.

The Section 56 files were part of the process of ensuring that Housing Commission standards were maintained and that the interests of both the dweller of the sub-standard house and the Housing Commission were cared for.

Although administrative use has ceased, these files provide the only records in custody of the Housing Commissions justifications for the demolition of housing.

These records are significantly different from the routine maintenance records as they provide evidence of the living conditions of the most disadvantaged sections of the public.