Public Health Act 1936

83 Cleansing of filthy or verminous premises.

(1) Where it appears to a local authority upon a certificate of the medical officer of health or the sanitary inspector that any premises used for human habitation—

(a) are in such a filthy or unwholesome condition as to be prejudicial to health; or

(b) are verminous,

the authority shall give notice to the owner or occupier of the premises requiring him to take such steps to remedy the condition of the premises by cleansing, disinfecting and whitewashing them, as may be specified in the notice, and in the case of verminous premises the notice may require, among other things, the removal of the wallpaper or other covering on the walls, and the taking of such other steps as may be necessary for the purpose of destroying or removing vermin.

(2) If a person on whom a notice under this section is served fails to comply with the requirements thereof, the authority may themselves carry out the requirements and recover from him the expenses reasonably incurred by them in so doing, and, without prejudice to the right of the authority to exercise that power, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds and to a further fine not exceeding forty shillings for each day on which the offence continues after conviction therefor:

Provided that in any proceedings under this subsection it shall be open to the defendant to question the reasonableness of the authority's requirements or of their decision to address their notice to him and not to the occupier or, as the case may be, the owner of the premises.

(3) Where a local authority take action under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, their notice may require that they shall be allowed to employ gas for the purpose of destroying vermin on the premises, but in that case the notice shall be served both on the owner and on the occupier of the premises, and the authority shall bear the cost of their operations and may provide temporary shelter or house accommodation for any person compelled to leave the premises by reason of their operations.