ABSTRACT
We have seen that local authorities are placed under a duty to keep housing conditions under review and have considered the circumstances when an inspection should be carried out utilising Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004. Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in relation to statutory nuisances is also important and should be used in certain, more limited situations. In both cases, when an inspection is undertaken, it is the whole dwelling that has to be inspected. This enables all the deficiencies that contribute to a hazard to be identified and for the risks of exposure to any hazard to be properly assessed. In regard to statutory nuisance, it is the premises as a whole that need to be assessed in order to decide whether they are in such a state as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance. Either one major defect or multiple defects that individually might seem minor but together become problematic make the premises prejudicial to health.
