Requisitioned Houses and Housing (Amendment) Act 1955
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1955 c. 24 |
| Year | 1955 |
Requisitioned Houses and Housing (Amendment) Act , 1955
(3 & 4 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 24
An Act to repeal the power to requisition land for housing purposes under Defence Regulations and transfer to local authorities in England and Wales the right to possession of requisitioned houses for a limited period; to make provision for the earlier release of such houses in certain cases and for matters connected therewith; to authorise payments out of moneys provided by Parliament in respect of expenditure of local authorities to whom the said right is transferred; to regulate the payment of sums issued out of the consolidated fund under subsection (1) of section eight of the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act, 1944; to amend sections ninety-four and one hundred and fifty of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1950; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
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:—
Part I
Requisitioned Houses
Transfer of rights to local authorities
1 Transfer of rights to local authorities for limited period.
(1) On the commencement of this Act, any power of the Minister to retain possession of requisitioned houses shall be terminated, and the right to possession of every such house shall vest in the appropriate local authority.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, the local authority in whom the right to possession of a requisitioned house is vested under this section may retain possession of the house until the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and sixty, and no longer.
(3) Any agreement made in respect of a requisitioned house on behalf of the Minister, and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall continue in force and have effect thereafter as if made on behalf of the local authority.
(4) The local authority who are for the time being in possession of a requisitioned house by virtue of this section may, subject to any such agreement as aforesaid, but notwithstanding any covenant or easement otherwise affecting the house, use the house in such manner as appears to them to be expedient for housing purposes and may for those purposes do anything which a person having an interest in the house would be entitled to do by virtue of that interest.
2 Application of certain enactments.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the enactments relating to requisitioned land shall apply in relation to requisitioned houses, while in the possession of a local authority by virtue of this Act, as they apply in relation to land of which a Minister is in possession by virtue of an exercise of emergency powers; and for the purposes of any such enactment as applied by this section any reference to the authority by whom possession of the land was taken shall be construed as a reference to the local authority.
(2) For the purposes of Part VIII of the Requisitioned Land and War Works Act, 1945 (which regulates the compensation on a compulsory purchase of requisitioned land) in its application to requisitioned houses, any period for which possession is retained by the local authority under this Act shall be deemed to be included within the war period as defined for the purposes of the said Part VIII.
(3) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act with respect to payments by the Minister to local authorities, all compensation which would be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament under the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939, in respect of a requisitioned house if possession thereof were retained in the exercise of emergency powers shall be paid by the local authority and not out of moneys so provided, and accordingly the reference to the Crown in subsection (2) of section two of that Act (which regulates the payment of rental compensation) shall be construed as a reference to the local authority.
(4) Notwithstanding anything in section two of the said Act of 1939, any terminal compensation in respect of damage which may have occurred in the case of a requisitioned house at any time before the commencement of this Act shall accrue due at the end of the period for which possession of the house is retained under this Act, and shall be paid by the local authority in accordance with the provisions of the last foregoing subsection.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed as applying or continuing, in relation to requisitioned houses—
(a ) any regulations made under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939; or
(b ) subsection (2) of section twenty-eight of the Requisitioned Land and War Works Act, 1945 (which enables possession of land held by virtue of emergency powers to be retained after the termination of any other right thereto),
or as affecting the operation of any enactment regulating the procedure for claiming compensation under the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939, or for settling disputes in respect of such compensation.
Provisions for release of requisitioned houses
3 Release of dwellings falling vacant.
(1) If at the date of the commencement of this Act no licence is in force for the occupation of a requisitioned dwelling, or if a licence for the occupation of any such dwelling is terminated at any subsequent date, then, subject to the provisions of this section and of section eight of this Act, the right of the local authority to retain possession of the dwelling under this Act shall be terminated at the expiration of the period of four weeks beginning with that date.
(2) If the Minister is satisfied, upon application made by the local authority before the expiration of the said period, that it is expedient so to do, he may authorise the local authority to retain possession of the dwelling notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) of this section; and where such an application is made as aforesaid, the right of the local authority to retain possession of the dwelling shall not in any event be terminated under this section until the date on which the Minister's decision is notified to them.
(3) Without prejudice to the last foregoing subsection, the right of a local authority to retain possession of a dwelling shall not be terminated under this section if within the said period a fresh licence for the occupation of the dwelling is granted by the authority—
(a ) to the former licensee of the dwelling, in order to provide for a variation in the terms of the former licence;
(b ) in the case of his death, to a statutory successor of his; or
(c ) in pursuance of arrangements for an exchange of accommodation between the licensee and another person being the licensee or tenant of any other dwelling in the possession of or belonging to the local authority.
(4) Where a licence for the occupation of a requisitioned dwelling is terminated by the local authority or has been so terminated before the commencement of this Act—
(a ) for the purpose of carrying out repairs to the dwelling; or
(b ) on the ground of non-payment of rent by the licensee,
then (notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section) the right of the local authority to retain possession of the dwelling shall not be terminated under this section if within a period of three months beginning with the date of the termination of the licence a fresh licence for the occupation of the dwelling is granted by the authority to the last previous licensee of the dwelling; and in such cases there shall be substituted a period of three months for the period mentioned in subsection (1).
(5) After the date mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, the local authority shall not permit any person to enter into occupation of the dwelling (except in pursuance of such a licence as is mentioned in subsection (3) or (4) of this section) unless and until an authorisation is given by the Minister under subsection (2) of this section.
(6) Before applying for such an authorisation, the local authority shall give notice in writing of their intention to do so to the owner of the dwelling; and, if within two weeks beginning with the day on which that notice is given, the owner commences proceedings under section five of this Act for possession of the dwelling, no authorisation shall be given by the Minister in pursuance of the application of the local authority until the conclusion of the said proceedings.
(7) If in the case of any local authority it appears to the Minister that it is necessary so to do in order to ensure that alternative accommodation is reserved for any persons who may be displaced by virtue of section five or section six of this Act, he may give directions requiring that authority to retain possession of any requisitioned dwellings, notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) of this section, until such time as he may authorise their release; and in any such case, subsection (5) of this section shall not apply in relation to the occupation of the dwellings in pursuance of licences granted to persons displaced as aforesaid.
4 Acceptance of licensee as statutory tenant by owner.
(1) Any local authority may, subject to such directions, if any, as may be given by the Minister, and shall, if so required by the Minister, serve on the owners of such requisitioned dwellings as may be decided by the authority or specified by the Minister, as the case may be (being dwellings of which possession is retained under this Act) a notice inviting those owners to accord to the licensees of the dwellings the status of statutory tenants in consideration of payments to be made by the...
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