Artizans and Labourers Dwellings Act 1868
| Year | 1868 |
Artizans and Labourers Dwellings Act, 1868.
(31 & 32 Vict.) C A P. CXXX.
An Act to provide better Dwellings for Artizans and Labourers.
[31st July 1868]
W HEREAS it is expedient to make Provision for taking down or improving Dwellings occupied by Working Men and their Families which are unfit for Human Habitation, and for the building and Maintenance of better Dwellings for such Persons instead thereof: Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same as follows:
1 Short Title.
1. In citing this Act it shall be sufficient to use the Words ‘TheArtizans and Labourers Dwellings Act, 1868.’
2 Application of Act, and Definition of ‘Local Authority,’ ‘Local Rate,’ and ‘Clerk of Local Authority.’
2. This Act shall apply only to the Places named in the First Column of Table (A.) in the First Schedule annexed hereto; and ‘Local Authority,’‘Local Rate,’ and ‘Clerk of Local Authority’ shall mean ‘the Bodies of Persons,’‘Rate,’ and ‘Officer’ in that Table in that Behalf mentioned; and the said Table shall be of the same Force as if it were enacted in the Body of this Act: Provided always, that this Act shall not apply to any City, Borough, Town, or Place that would otherwise be included within the said Table, the Population whereof does not according to the Census for the Time being in force amount to the Number of Ten thousand Persons.
3 Interpretation of Terms:
3. The following Words and Expressions have in this Act the following Meanings, unless excluded by the Subject or Context; (that is to say,)
The Word ‘Street’ includes any Court, Alley, Street, Square, or Row of Houses:
The Word ‘Premises’ means any Dwelling House or inhabited Building, and the Site thereof, with the Yard, Garden, Outhouses, and Appurtenances belonging thereto or usually enjoyed therewith:
The Expression ‘Owner,’ in addition to the Definition given by the Lands Clauses Act, shall include all Lessees or Mortgagees of any Premises required to be dealt with under this Act, except Persons holding or entitled to the Rents and Profits of such Premises for a Term of Years, of which Twenty-one Years do not remain unexpired:
‘Person’ shall include a Body of Persons, corporate or unincorporate:
‘Quarter Sessions’ shall include General Sessions, and inIreland shall mean in Towns and Boroughs where there are separate Quarter Sessions, the Quarter Sessions of said Boroughs and Towns, and in Boroughs where there are no separate Quarter Sessions, the Quarter Sessions of the Divisions of the Courts in which such Towns or Boroughs shall be situate:
‘Officer of Health’ shall mean and include Medical Officer of Health, Sanitary Inspector, or any Statutory Officer performing the Duties which a Medical Officer or Sanitary Inspector performs under or by virtue of any Act of Parliament:
In all Cases in which the Name of a Local Authority, Local Court, Magistrate, or Officer having any Local Jurisdiction in respect of their or his Office is referred to, without Mention of the Locality to which the Jurisdiction extends, such Reference is to be understood to indicate the Local Authority, Local Court, Magistrate, or Officer having Jurisdiction in that Place within which are situate the Premises or other Subject Matter or any Part thereof to which such Reference applies:
‘The Metropolis’ shall not include the City ofLondon or the Liberties thereof, but shall include all other Parishes or Places within the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works:
‘Borough’ inEngland shall mean any Place for the Time being subject to the Act passed in the Session holden in the Fifth and Sixth Years of the Reign of King William the Fourth, Chapter Seventy-six, intituled An Act to provide for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales:
‘Burgh’ inScotland shall mean any Place returning or contributing to return Members to Parliament, or any Place subject to the Jurisdiction of a Town Council:
‘Borough’ inIreland, shall mean any Place for the Time being subject to the Act passed in the Session of the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, Chapter One hundred and eight, and intituled An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland.
4 As to pointment of Officers of Health and Payment of Salaries.
4. If in any Place to which this Act applies there is no Officer of Health within the Meaning of this Act, the Local Authority, with the Approval of One of Her Majesty's, Principal Secretaries of State, shall forthwith appoint such an Officer for such Period as shall be necessary, shall assign him his Duties, and pay him such Salary or Emolument out of the Local Rate as they, with such Approval as aforesaid, shall think fit. The Local Authority, with the like Approval, may from Time to Time remove any Officer appointed under this Section, and in manner aforesaid appoint another Officer in his Place.
5 Officer of Health to report as to Condition of Streets.
5. If in any Place to which this Act applies the Officer of Health find that any Premises therein are in a Condition or State dangerous to Health so as to be unfit for Human Habitation, he shall report the same in manner herein-after provided to the Local Authority.
6 Officer of Health to deliver Copies of Report to Clerk of Local Authority, who shall refer the same to a Surveyor, &c.
6. Every Report made under this Act by the Officer of Health shall be made in Writing and delivered to the Clerk of the Local Authority, and the Local Authority shall refer such Report to a Surveyor or Engineer, who shall thereupon consider the Report so furnished to him, and report to the Local Authority what is the Cause of the Evil so reported on, and the Remedy thereof, and if such Evil is occasioned by Defects in any Premises, whether the same can be remedied by structural Alterations and Improvements or otherwise, or whether such Premises, or any and what Part thereof, ought to be demolished.
7 Local Authority to cause Copies of Reports to be given to Owner, who may object to the same, and to prepare Plan and Specification of required Works.
7. Upon Receipt of the Report of the Surveyor and Engineer the Local Authority shall cause Copies of both the Reports to be given to the Owner, with Notice of the Time and Place appointed by the Local Authority for the Consideration thereof, and such Owner shall be at liberty to attend and to state his Objections (if any) to such Reports, or either of them, including therein any Objection that the necessary Works ought to be done by or at the Expense of some other Person or Persons, or at the Expense of the Parish or District in which the Premises are situate; and on such Objections the Local Authority shall make an Order in Writing, signed by the Clerk of such Local Authority, which shall be subject to Appeal in manner herein-after mentioned; and if such Objections are overruled, the Local Authority, if they deem it necessary, shall cause to be prepared a Plan and Specification of the Works (if any), and an Estimate of the Cost of such Works, required to be executed.
8 Clerk of Local Authority to give Notice to Owner of Plan, &c. of required Works having been prepared.
8. The Clerk of the Local Authority shall thereupon forthwith give Notice to the Owner of the Premises, informing him that a Plan and Specification and Estimate of the Cost of such Works as are required in reference thereto have been prepared, and that such Plan and Specification and Estimate may, if such Owner think fit, be inspected and transcribed by him or his Agent at the Office of the Clerk of the Local Authority without Charge; and any such Owner may at any Time within Three Weeks after the Receipt of such Notice state in Writing to the Clerk of the Local Authority any Objection which he may entertain to the said Plan, Specification, and Estimate, or any of them, and may attend at a Time and Place to be appointed for such Purpose by the Local Authority to support such Objections; and the Local Authority shall thereupon make such Order in relation thereto as they may think fit; and if they decide that any Alteration is to be made in the said Plan, Specification, and Estimate, the Local Authority shall cause such Alteration to be made accordingly, and the Plan and Specification and Estimate so amended shall be the Plan and Specification and Estimate according to which the Works shall be executed.
9 Persons aggrieved by Order of Local Authority may appeal against the same.
9. Any Person aggrieved by any Order of the Local Authority, or his Agent, may appeal against the same to the Court of Quarter Sessions held next after the making of the said Order, but the Appellant shall not be heard in support of the Appeal unless, within One Calendar Month after the making of the Order appealed against, he give to the Clerk of the Local Authority Notice in Writing stating his Intention to appeal, together with a Statement in Writing of the Grounds of Appeal, and shall, within Two Days after giving such Notice, enter into a Recognizance before some...
To continue reading
Request your trial