London Government Act 1963

21 Housing powers in Greater London

(1) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, the council of a London borough shall be the local authority as respects that borough for all purposes of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act 1899, the Housing Act 1957, the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1958, the House Purchase and Housing Act 1959 and the Housing Act 1961 for which the council of a county borough are the local authority as respects that county borough.

(2) The Common Council shall be the local authority as respects the City for the purposes of the said Act of 1899 and, subject to subsection (3) of this section, shall continue to be the local authority as respects the City for all purposes of the other enactments referred to in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) The council of a London borough or the Common Council shall not exercise any powers under Part V of the Housing Act 1957 outside Greater London for the purposes of a scheme prepared by that council unless, on an application made to the Minister for the purpose by that council, it appears to the Minister expedient that the needs of that borough or, as the case may be, the City with respect to the provision of housing accommodation should be satisfied by the provision of such accommodation by that council outside Greater London and he consents to the scheme.

(4) Without prejudice to the powers of a London borough council or the Common Council, the Greater London Council shall be a local authority as respects the whole of Greater London for the purposes of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act 1899, Part V of the Housing Act 1957 (as regards housing accommodation both inside and outside Greater London), section 9 of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1958 and section 13 of the House Purchase and Housing Act 1959; but the Greater London Council—

(a) except—

(i) for the purpose of the carrying out by them of the provisions of a development plan within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning Act 1962 relating to an area of comprehensive development ; or

(ii) for the purpose of rehousing persons displaced by, or in consequence of, action taken by them in the exercise of any of their powers,

shall not exercise their powers to provide housing accommodation under the said Part V by the development or redevelopment of land in a London borough except with the consent of the council of that borough or, if that consent is withheld, with the consent of the Minister, who, in deciding whether or not to give his consent, shall have regard to the needs of that borough as well as the needs of Greater London as a whole; and

(b) subject to subsections (7) and (11) of this section, shall not exercise any powers by virtue of this section in the City;

and in Schedule 2 to the Land Compensation Act 1961 (which relates to the payments to be made on the compulsory acquisition of houses as being unfit for human habitation) after paragraph 2(1)(e) there shall be inserted—

“(f) an acquisition by the Greater London Council under Part V of the Act of 1957”.

(5) Until such date as the Minister may by order appoint, the Greater London Council may exercise any of the powers of a local authority under any of the enactments referred to in subsection (1) of this section in any circumstances in which that power might have been exercised by the London county council if this Act had not been passed; and different days may be appointed under this subsection for different purposes or for different areas.

(6) Any review by the Greater London Council in pursuance of their duty under section 91 of the Housing Act 1957 shall be made in consultation with the London borough councils and the Common Council, who shall keep the Greater London Council supplied with information as to their assessment of the needs of their respective districts and as to any action proposed to be taken by them, or any arrangements made between any of them, to meet those needs, and with such other information relevant to that duty in such form as the Greater London Council may require; and the Greater London Council shall inform the Minister of any proposed exercise of their powers under Part V of the Housing Act 1957 in a London borough to which the council of that borough have given their consent.

(7) Section 5 (1) of this Act shall not apply to any functions of the Greater London Council by virtue of this or the next fallowing section, but the Greater London Council and the council of any London borough may agree together for the carrying out of any action under Part V of the Housing Act 1957 in that borough—

(a) by the Greater London Council as agent of the borough council; or

(b) by the borough council as agent of the Greater London Council;

and, without prejudice to subsection (11) of this section, the Greater London Council and the Common Council may agree together for the carrying out of any such action in the City by the Greater London Council as agents of the Common Council.

(8) It shall be the duty of the council of any London borough in carrying out their functions under Parts II and III of the Housing Act 1957 to have regard to any proposals in that behalf as respects the area of that borough submitted before 1st April 1965 under the Housing Repairs and Rents Act 1954 or section 2 of the Housing Act 1957 by any existing council to whom section 3(1)(b) of this Act applies or jointly by the London county council and a metropolitan borough council, but subject to any modifications made by subsequent proposals approved by the Minister under the said section 2.

(9) In section 93 (3) of the Housing Act 1957, references to the London county council, a metropolitan borough council and the administrative county of London shall be construed as references respectively to the Greater London Council, a London borough council and Greater London.

(10) Arrangements may be made by any of the London borough councils or the Common Council for the rehousing of any person by another of those councils ; and any such arrangements may include provision for the payment of contributions by that council to that other council.

(11) The Greater London Council and any of the following other councils, that is to say, the Common Council and any borough or urban or rural district council whose area lies outside but adjacent to or in the vicinity of Greater London, may enter into agreements for the provision by the Greater London Council of houses outside the London boroughs to meet the special needs of that other council, or for the provision by that other council of houses within their area to meet the needs of the Greater London Council, and for the payment in either case of such contributions as may be agreed by the council needing the houses to the council providing them.

(12) The enactments referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall have effect subject to the modifications respectively specified in Schedule 8 to this Act, being modifications necessary or expedient in consequence of the foregoing provisions of this section or other provisions of this Act.