Land Compensation Act 1973

Rehousing

39 Duty to rehouse residential occupiers

(1) Where a person is displaced from residential accommodation on any land in consequence of—

(a) the acquisition of the land by an authority possessing compulsory purchase powers;

(b) the making, passing or acceptance of a housing order, resolution or undertaking in respect of a house or building on the land ;

(c) where the land has been previously acquired by an authority possessing compulsory purchase powers or appropriated by a local authority and is for the time being held by the authority for the purposes for which it was acquired or appropriated, the carrying out of redevelopment on the land,

and suitable alternative residential accommodation on reasonable terms is not otherwise available to that person, then, subject to the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the relevant authority to secure that he will be provided with such other accommodation.

(2) Subsection (1) above shall not by virtue of paragraph (a) thereof apply to a person if the acquisition is in pursuance of the service by him of a blight notice within the meaning of section 192 of the [1971 c. 78.] Town and Country Planning Act 1971 or section 181 of the [1972 c. 52.] Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972.

(3) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to any person who is a trespasser on the land or who has been permitted to reside in any house or building on the land pending its demolition.

(4) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to any person to whom money has been advanced—

(a) under section 41 below ;

(b) under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts 1899 to 1923 or section 43 of the [1958 c. 42.] Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1958 ;

(c) under the Small Dwellings Acquisition (Scotland) Acts 1899 to 1923 or section 49 of the [1968 c. 31.] Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1968 ; or

(d) by a development corporation or the Commission for the New Towns otherwise than under section 41 below,

for the purpose of enabling him to obtain accommodation in substitution for that from which he is displaced as mentioned in that subsection.

(5) Subsection (1)(a) above shall not apply to any acquisition of land in relation to which the Secretary of State has before the passing of this Act decided under paragraph 1 of Schedule 9 to the [1957 c. 56.] Housing Act 1957 or paragraph 1 of Schedule 8 to the [1966 c. 49.] Housing (Scotland) Act 1966 that a housing scheme is not necessary.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (1) above a person shall not be treated as displaced in consequence of any such acquisition or redevelopment as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (c) of that subsection unless he was residing in the accommodation in question—

(a) in the case of land acquired under a compulsory purchase order, at the time when notice was first published of the making of the order prior to its submission for confirmation or, where the order did not require confirmation, of the preparation of the order in draft;

(b) in the case of land acquired under an Act specifying the land as subject to compulsory acquisition, at the time when the provisions of the Bill for the Act specifying the land were first published ;

(c) in the case of land acquired by agreement, at the time when the agreement was made ;

and a person shall not be treated as displaced in consequence of any such order, resolution or undertaking as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection unless he was residing in the accommodation in question at the time when the order was made, the resolution was passed or the undertaking was accepted.

(7) Subject to subsection (8) below, " the relevant authority " for the purposes of this section is—

(a) where the land is in a London borough, the council of that borough or the Greater London Council if they have agreed with that council to discharge the functions of the latter under this section;

(b) where the land is in any other area or district, the local authority having functions in relation to that area under Part V of the [1957 c. 56.] Housing Act 1957 or that district under Part VII of the [1966 c. 49.] Housing (Scotland) Act 1966.

(8) Where the land is in an area designated as the site of a new town—

(a) paragraph (c) of subsection (1) above shall apply if the land on which the redevelopment is carried out has been previously acquired by the development corporation and is for the time being held either by that corporation or by the Commission for the New Towns ;

(b) if the authority by whom the land is acquired or redeveloped is the development corporation, that corporation shall, in a case falling within paragraph (a) or (c) of that subsection, be the relevant authority for the purposes of this section ;

(c) if the authority by whom the land is redeveloped is the Commission for the New Towns, the Commission shall, in a case falling within paragraph (c) of that subsection, be the relevant authority for the purposes of this section.

(9) In this section " a housing order, resolution or undertaking " and " redevelopment" have the same meaning as in section 29 above.

40 Duty to rehouse certain caravan dwellers

(1) Section 39 above shall, so far as applicable, have effect in relation to a person residing in a caravan on a caravan site who is displaced from that site as it has effect in relation to a person displaced from residential accommodation on any land but shall so have effect subject to the following modifications.

(2) Subsection (1) of the said section 39 shall have effect—

(a) as if for the words preceding paragraph (a) there were substituted the words " Where a person residing in a caravan on a caravan site is displaced from that site in consequence of "; and

(b) as if for the words following paragraph (c) there were substituted the words " and neither suitable residential accommodation nor a suitable alternative site for stationing a caravan is available to that person on reasonable terms, then, subject to the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the relevant authority to secure that he will be provided with suitable residential accommodation ".

(3) Subsection (6) of the said section 39 shall have effect as if in the words preceding paragraph (a) for the words " unless he was residing in the accommodation in question " there were substituted the words " unless he was residing in a caravan on the caravan site in question ".

(4) The said section 39 shall have effect as if in any provision not modified as aforesaid for any reference to land there were substituted a reference to a caravan site.

(5) In this section " caravan site " has the same meaning as in section 33 above.

41 Power of relevant authority to make advances repayable on maturity to displaced residential owner-occupiers

(1) Where a person displaced from a dwelling in consequence of any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) of section 39 above—

(a) is an owner-occupier of the dwelling ; and

(b) wishes to acquire or construct another dwelling in substitution for that from which he is displaced,

the relevant authority for the purposes of that section may advance money to him for the purpose of enabling him to acquire or construct the other dwelling.

(2) The power conferred by this section shall be exercisable subject to such conditions as may be approved by the Secretary of State and the following provisions shall apply with respect to any advance made in the exercise of that power.

(3) The advance shall be made—

(a) on terms providing for the payment of the principal—

(i) at the end of a fixed period, with or without a provision allowing the authority to extend that period; or

(ii) upon notice given by the authority, subject, in either case, to a provision for earlier repayment on the happening of a specified event;

(b) on such other terms as the authority may think fit having regard to all the circumstances.

(4) An advance for the construction of a dwelling may be made by instalments from time to time as the works of construction progress.

(5) The principal of the advance, together with interest thereon, shall be secured by a mortgage of the borrower's interest in the dwelling, and the amount of the principal shall not exceed the value which, in accordance with a valuation duly made on behalf of the relevant authority, it is estimated that the borrower's interest will bear or, as the case may be, will bear when the dwelling has been constructed.

(6) Before advancing money under this section the relevant authority shall satisfy themselves that the dwelling to be acquired is or will be made, or that the dwelling to be constructed will on completion be, in all respects fit for human habitation.

(7) While the payment of the principal of an advance made by a local authority under this section is not required in accordance with the terms of the advance, the local authority may suspend, with respect to so much of any sum borrowed by them as is referable to the advance or with respect to any sum paid in respect of the advance out of their Consolidated Loans Fund, any periodical provision for repayment that may be required by any enactment or by any scheme (whether made under section 55 of the [1958 c. 55.] Local Government Act 1958 or under any local enactment) by which the Fund was established.

(8) The power conferred by this section on a relevant authority is without prejudice to any power to advance money exercisable by the authority under any other enactment.

(9) In this section " owner-occupier", in relation to any dwelling, means a person who occupies it on the date of displacement and either—

(a) occupies it on that date in right of a freehold interest therein or a tenancy thereof granted or extended for a term of years certain of which not less than three years remain unexpired; or

(b) if the displacement is in consequence of the matters mentioned in paragraph (c) of section 39(1) above, occupied it in right of such an interest or tenancy on the date on which the land was acquired or appropriated as mentioned in that paragraph.

(10) In this section references to the construction of a dwelling include references to the acquisition of a building and its conversion into a dwelling and to the conversion into a dwelling of a building previously acquired.

(11) In the application of this section to Scotland—

(a) in subsection (5) for the reference to a mortgage there shall be substituted a reference to a heritable security ;

(b) in subsection (6) for the words from "is or will" to the end there shall be substituted the words " meets or will meet the tolerable standard as determined for the purposes of the [1969 c. 34.] Housing (Scotland) Act 1969 by section 2 of that Act ";

(c) in subsection (7) for the words from " or with respect " to the end there shall be substituted the words " any periodical provision for repayment that may be required by any enactment ";

(d) in subsection (9)—

(i) in paragraph (a) for the words from " a freehold interest" to " certain " there shall be substituted the words " an owner's interest or a lease " , and at the end there shall be added the following words " or by virtue of a tenancy or other interest to which the Crofters (Scotland) Acts 1955 and 1961 or the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts 1886 to 1931 apply;

(ii) in paragraph (b) for the word " tenancy" there shall be substituted the words " lease or by virtue of such a tenancy or interest ".

42 Duty of displacing authority to indemnify rehousing or lending authority for net losses

(1) Where a relevant authority within the meaning of section 39 above provide or secure the provision of accommodation for any person in pursuance of subsection (1)(a) or (c) of that section, then, if—

(a) the authority providing the accommodation (" the re housing authority ") are not the same as the authority by whom the land in question is acquired or redeveloped (" the displacing authority "); and

(b) the displacing authority are not an authority having functions under Part V of the [1957 c. 56.] Housing Act 1957 or Part VII of the [1966 c. 49.] Housing (Scotland) Act 1966,

the displacing authority shall make to the rehousing authority periodical payments, or if the rehousing authority so require a lump sum payment, by way of indemnity against any net loss in respect of the rehousing authority's provision of that accommodation which may be incurred by that authority in any year during the period of ten years commencing with the year in which the accommodation is first provided.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above a local authority incur a net loss in respect of their provision of accommodation for a person whom they are rehousing—

(a) if they rehouse him in a dwelling provided by them under Part V of the said Act of 1957, or a house provided by them under Part VII of the said Act of 1966, for the purpose of rehousing him ; or

(b) if—

(i) they rehouse him in a Housing Revenue Account dwelling not so provided or (in Scotland) a house to which the housing revenue account relates not so provided, and

(ii) provide under the said Part V or the said Part VII in the year immediately preceding that in which he first occupies it, or in the period of three years commencing with the year in which he first occupies it, a dwelling or house of a similar type or size.

(3) Where money has been advanced to a person as mentioned in section 39(4) above, then if—

(a) the authority making the advance (" the lending authority ") are not the same as the displacing authority; and

(b) the lending authority incur a net loss in respect of the making of the advance,

the displacing authority shall make to the lending authority a lump sum payment by way of indemnity against that loss.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) above, a lending authority incur a net loss in respect of the making of an advance to any person if—

(a) he does not fully discharge his liability to the authority in respect of principal, interest and costs or expenses in accordance with the terms on which the advance is made; and

(b) the deficiency exceeds the net proceeds arising to the authority on a sale of the interest on which the principal and interest is secured.

(5) The Secretary of State may—

(a) for the purposes of subsection (1) above from time to time determine a method to be used generally in calculating net losses incurred by rehousing authorities ;

(b) for the purposes of that subsection or subsection (3) above, determine the net loss incurred by a rehousing authority or lending authority in any particular case;

(c) give directions as to the manner in which any payment under this section is to be made.

(6) Subsection (2) above shall be construed as one with the [1972 c. 47.] Housing Finance Act 1972 or, in relation to Scotland, the [1972 c. 46.] Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972.

43 Power of relevant authority to defray expenses in connection with acquisition of new dwellings

(1) Where a person displaced from a dwelling in consequence of any such acquisition as is mentioned in section 39(1) (a) above—

(a) has no interest in the dwelling or no greater interest therein than as tenant for a year or from year to year; and

(b) wishes to acquire another dwelling in substitution for that from which he is displaced,

the acquiring authority may pay any reasonable expenses incurred by him in connection with the acquisition, other than the purchase price.

(2) No payment shall be made under this section in respect of expenses incurred by any person in connection with the acquisition of a dwelling unless the dwelling is acquired not later than one year after the displacement and is reasonably comparable with that from which he is displaced.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) above a dwelling acquired pursuant to a contract shall be treated as acquired when the contract is made.

(4) Subsections (3) and (6) of section 39 above shall have effect in relation to subsection (1) above and to subsection (1)(a) of that section as applied thereby.