Housing : being the annotated texts of The Housing Act, 1957 and the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1958 / by J.D. James.

  • Great Britain
Date:
1958
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Housing : being the annotated texts of The Housing Act, 1957 and the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1958 / by J.D. James. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    66/596 (page 38)
    No. 109.—HOUSING NOTES History. Sub-ss. (1)—(3) contain provisions formerly in s. 1 (3)—(5) of the Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954. Sub-s. (4) contains provisions formerly in s. 21 (1) of that Act. Section 1 (1) and (2) of that Act, relating to the submission of proposals by local authorities, are regarded as spent; they are repealed by s. 191 (1) and the Eleventh Schedule, post, and are not reproduced in this Act. General Note. Until 1954, the powers and duties of local authorities under the Housing Act, 1936, were not expressed to be subject to any qualification which would ~ enable an authority to refrain from action because, for example, of the post-war housing shortage. During the war, in practice, many powers had not been exercised; cf. Ministry of Health Circular No. 1866, dated 8th September 1939 (reprinted in Lumley’s Public Health (12th Edn.), Vol. VI, p. 1094; Hill’s Complete Law of Housing (4th Edn.), p. 580). After the war, some attempts were made by owners of property to compel local authorities to take action, particularly against houses subject to the Rent Acts, as the owners could not otherwise obtain possession to demolish worn-out property; cf. s. 22 (5), post (replacing a provision in s. 156 (1) of the Housing Act, 1936). In R. v. Falmouth Borough Council (1953) (unreported) proceedings were commenced to compel the making of a demolition order by mandamus, but were discontinued. Section 1 of the Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954 (84 Statutes Supp. 3; 34 Halsbury’s Statutes (2nd Edn.) 261), qualified the apparently absolute nature of the local authorities’ functions, by requiring them to be exercised “‘ having regard ”’ to proposals submitted by the authority to the Minister and approved by him. The present section reproduces so much of that section as is not regarded as spent; the original proposals were generally to be submitted within one year after 30th August 1954, though there was power to extend the time in exceptional circumstances. As to the information which the Minister required under the Act of 1954, see Ministry of Housing and Local Government Circular No. 55/54. The returns by local authorities were summarised by the Ministry and published as Cmd. 9593 (H.M. Stationery Office: price 3s. 6d.). Sub-s. (1). Local authority. Sees. 1 and notes thereto, ante. Parts II and III. Part II (ss. 4-41), post, is concerned with the repair, demolition closing, etc., of individual houses; Part III (ss. 42-75), post, is principally concerned with the clearance or re-development of whole areas. See, generally, Chapter 3 of the Introduction, p. 13, ante. Have regard to the proposals. The phrase “ have regard”’ is a loose and indefinite one; see the note ‘“‘ Regard shall be had”’ to s. 39 (1), post. Presumably the approved proposals are to act as a guide, but the authority are not bound to secure their exact fulfilment. The Minister. J.e., the Minister of Housing and Local Government; sees. 189 (1), post. Commencement of this Act. J.e., 1st September 1957; see s. 193 (2), post. Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954. 84 Statutes Supp. 1; 34 Halsbury’s Statutes (2nd Edn.) 259; and see the General Note to this section, supra. Sub-s. (2). ‘ Further proposals. The scope of the original proposals was indicated in s. 1 (1) (repealed) of the Act of 1954 (ubi supra). They were to be for “‘dealing, under Parts II and III of the [Act of 1936] or under the following provisions of [Part I of the Act of 1954], with houses within the district of the authority which appear to the authority to be unfit for human habitation, and with any other houses which are or in the opinion of the authority ought to be included in clearance areas’’. The amplifications or modifications to be made under the present section will presumably be similar in scope, and will be for dealing with unfit houses under the corresponding provisions of this Act and with houses which, although not unfit, are suitable for inclusion in clearance areas under s. 42, post. With unfit houses. This phrase might be read as limiting the scope of proposals to those dealing with houses which are unfit for human habitation under s. 4 and s. 5, post. The phrase did not occur in s. 1 (4) of the Act of 1954, which the present sub- section replaces. It is submitted that the inclusion of this phrase was for convenience of drafting, and was not intended to narrow the scope of further proposals; see the note ‘‘ Further proposals ’’, supra. For the meaning of “‘ house ’’, see s. 189 (1), post. Sub-s. (4). ) Metropolitan borough; London County Council. See the notes to s. 1, ante. 3. Duty of local authority to inspect district and keep records.— (x) It shall be the duty of every local authority to cause an inspection of their district to be made from time to time with a view to ascertaining