Housing Act 1957

25 Demolition orders: cleansing before demolition

(1) If it appears to the local authority that premises to which a demolition order made under this Part of this Act applies require to be cleansed from vermin, the authority may, at any time between the date on which the order is made, and the date on which it becomes operative in relation to the premises, serve notice in writing on the owner or owners of the premises that the authority intend to cleanse them before they are demolished.

(2) A local authority who have served a notice under the foregoing subsection may, at any time after the order has become operative in relation to the premises and they have been vacated, enter and carry out such work as they may think requisite for the purpose of destroying or removing vermin, and the demolition shall not be begun or continued by any owner after service of the notice on him until the authority have served on him a further notice authorising him to proceed with the demolition:

Provided that an owner upon whom a notice has been served under the foregoing subsection may, at any time after the premises have been vacated, serve notice in writing on the authority requiring them to carry out the work within fourteen days from the receipt of the notice served by him, and at the expiration of that period shall be at liberty to proceed with the demolition whether the work has then been completed or not.

(3) Where a local authority serve a notice under subsection (1) of this section, subsection (1) of section twenty-three of this Act shall have effect in relation to the house to which the notice relates subject to the proviso that the local authority shall not be entitled to take action thereunder until the expiration of six weeks from the date on which the owner or owners become entitled by virtue of subsection (2) of this section to proceed with the demolition.