1919. 9 & 10 Geo. 5. e. 35. 8 Edw. 7. c. 36. IO Edw. 7 and 1 Geo. 5. c 34. RELAXATION OF BYELAWS. Relaxation of Byelaws. 24. (1) Where in pursuance of a housing scheme to which this section applies new buildings are constructed, or public streets and roads are laid out and constructed, in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the Local Government Board, the provision of any building byelaws shall not apply to the new buildings and new streets constructed and laid out in pursuance of the scheme so far as those provisions are inconsistent with the plans and specifications approved by the Local Government Board, and, notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act, any street laid out and constructed in accordance with such plans and specifications may be taken over and thereafter maintained by the local authority; Provided that, as regards the administrative county of London, the Board shall not approve any plans and specifications inconsistent with the provisions of any building byelaws in force in the county except after consultation with the London County Council on the general question of the relaxation of such provisions in connection with housing schemes. (2) Where the Local Government Board have approved plans and specifications which in certain respects are inconsistent with the provisions of any building byelaws in force in the district in which the works are to be executed, any proposals for the erection therein of houses and the laying out and construction of new streets which do not form part of a housing scheme to which this section applies may, notwithstanding these provisions, be carried out if the local authority or, on appeal, the Local Government Board are satisfied that they will involve departures from such provisions only to the like extent as in the case of the plans and specifications so approved, and that, where such plans and specifications have been approved subject to any conditions, the like conditions will be complied with in the case of proposals to which this subsection applies: Provided that, in the application of this subsection to the administrative county of London, the expression "local authority means the London County Council with respect to the matters within their jurisdiction and the Common Council of the City of London or the council of a metropolitan borough (as the case may be) with respect to other matters. (3) The housing schemes to which this section applies are schemes made by a local authority or county council under the Housing Acts, or by a public utility society or housing trust, and approved by the Local Government Board. (4) Subject to any conditions which may be prescribed by the Local Government Board, the provisions of any building byelaws shall not apply to any new buildings and new streets constructed and laid out by a county council or local authority in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries under the Small Holdings and Allotments Acts, 1908 and 1910, or any Act amending the same. 1919. c. 35. Consent of Local Authority to Erection and Use of Buildings. 25.-(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any building byelaws, 9 & 10 Geo. 5. a local authority may, during a period of three years from the passing of this Act, consent to the erection and use for human habitation of any buildings erected or proposed to be erected in accordance with any regulations made by the Local Government Board. (2) The local authority may attach to their consent any conditions which they may deem proper with regard to the situation, sanitary arrangements, and protection against fire of such buildings, and may fix and from time to time extend the period during which such buildings shall be allowed to be used for human habitation. (3) If any person feels aggrieved by the neglect or refusal of the local authority to give such consent or by the conditions on which such consent is given, or as to the period allowed for the use of such buildings for human habitation, he may appeal to the Local Government Board, whose decision shall be final, and shall have effect as if it were the decision of the local authority, provided that the Board may, before considering any such appeal, require the appellant to deposit such sum, not exceeding ten pounds, to cover the costs of appeal as may be fixed by rules to be made by them. (4) Section twenty-seven of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907, shall not apply to any buildings to which this section applies. (5) In the application of this section to the administrative county of London, the expression "local authority" means the London County Council with respect to matters within their jurisdiction, and the common council of the City of London or the council of a Metropolitan borough (as the case may be) with respect to other matters. MISCELLANEOUS. Byelaws respecting Houses Divided into Separate Tenements. 7 Edw. 7. c. 53. c. 76. 26. (1) The power of making and enforcing byelaws under section 54 & 55 Vict. ninety of the Public Health Act, 1875, and section ninety-four of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, shall in the case of houses intended or used for occupation by the working classes be deemed to include the making and enforcing of byelaws— (a) for fixing and from time to time varying the number of (b) for the registration and inspection of such houses; (c) for enforcing drainage and promoting cleanliness and ventila- (d) for requiring provision adequate for the use of and readily (i) closet accommodation; (ii) water supply and washing accommodation; 1919. 9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 35. (iii) accommodation for the storage, preparation, and cooking of food; and, where necessary, for securing separate accommodation as aforesaid for every part of such house which is occupied as a separate dwelling; (e) for the keeping in repair and adequate lighting of any common staircase in such houses; (f) for securing stability, and the prevention of and safety from fire; (g) for the cleansing and redecoration of the premises at stated (i) for securing the adequate lighting of every room in such houses; and any such byelaws, in addition to any other penalty, may prohibit the letting for occupation by members of more than one family of any such house unless the same are complied with, subject in the case of houses so let or occupied at the time when such byelaws come into force to the allowance of a reasonable time for the execution of any works necessary to comply therewith. (2) Such byelaws may impose the duty of executing any work required to comply therewith upon the owner within the meaning of the Public Health Acts of any such house, or upon any other person having an interest in the premises, and may prescribe the circumstances and conditions in and subject to which any such duty is to be discharged. (3) For the purpose of discharging any duty so imposed, the owner or other person may at all reasonable times enter upon any part of the premises, and section fifty-one of the principal Act shall apply as if for the reference to the provisions of Part II. of that Act there were substituted a reference to the provisions of such byelaws, and as if the person on whom such duty is imposed were the owner and any inmate of the premises were the occupier of a dwelling-house. (4) Where an owner or other person has failed to execute any work which he has been required to execute under the byelaws, the local authority by whom such byelaws are enforced may, after giving to him not less than twenty-one days' notice in writing, themselves execute the works and recover the costs and expenses, and for that purpose the provisions of subsection (5) of section fifteen of the Housing. Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, with respect to the execution of works and the recovery of expenses by local authorities, shall apply as if the owner or other person were the landlord, and with such other adaptations as may be necessary. (5) If in the opinion of the Local Government Board premises are being occupied by members of more than one family or are intended to be converted for such occupation in the district of any local authority, 1919. c. 35. and either no byelaws have been made by the local authority for the purposes specified in subsection (1) of this section, or the byelaws 9 & 10 Geo. 5. made are not sufficient properly to regulate such occupation or conversion, the Local Government Board may themselves make byelaws for such purposes which shall have effect and shall be enforced as if they had been made by the local authority. (6) Where the person on whom obligations are imposed by any byelaws made for the purposes specified in subsection (1) of this section with respect to houses so occupied as aforesaid holds the premises under a lease or agreement and satisfies the local authority that compliance with such byelaws is contrary to the provisions of the lease or agreement, or that the whole or any part of the expenses of carrying out the obligations ought to be borne by his lessor or other superior landlord, the local authority may make application to the county court, and the county court may, after giving the lessor or any such superior landlord an opportunity of being heard, (a) in the first case, order that the provisions of the lease or agree- (b) in the second case, grant to the person who carries out the (7) The annuity shall be of such an amount and extend over such number of years as the county court may determine. (8) Subsection three of section thirty-six and section thirty-seven except subsection (4) of the principal Act, and section nineteen of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, shall apply to charging orders and annuities under this section in like manner as to charging orders and annuities under the said section thirty-six. (9) Where a local authority have themselves acquired a leasehold interest in any house under the powers conferred upon them by this Act, the Local Government Board, on the application of the local authority, may make a similar order with regard to the relaxation of the provisions of the lease and to charging an annuity on the premises as might, had the lessee not been the local authority, have been made on the application of the local authority by the county court, and in that case the decision of the Local Government Board as to the amount and duration of any such annuity shall be final. (10) This section shall apply to the administrative county of London with the following modifications : (a) As respects the county of London, the byelaws for the pur- 1919. 9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 35. council of any metropolitan borough, and shall be observed and enforced by the council of each metropolitan borough except as regards byelaws for the purposes specified in paragraph (f) of subsection (1) which shall be enforced by the London County Council; (b) As respects the City of London, such byelaws shall be made and enforced by the common council except as regards byelaws for the purposes specified in paragraph (f) of subsection (1) which shall be made and enforced by the London County Council. Power to Authorise Conversion of a House into Several Tenements. 27. Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the county court on an application by the local authority or any person interested in a house that, owing to changes in the character of the neighbourhood in which such a house is situate, the house cannot readily be let as a single tenement but could readily be let for occupation if converted into two or more tenements, and that, by reason of the provisions of the lease or of any restrictive covenant affecting the house or otherwise, such conversion is prohibited or restricted, the court, after giving any person interested an opportunity of being heard, may vary the terms of the lease or other instrument imposing the prohibition or restriction so as to enable the house to be so converted subject to such conditions and upon such terms as the court may think just. Repair of Houses. 28. (1) If the owner of any house suitable for occupation by persons of the working classes fails to make and keep such house in all respects reasonably fit for human habitation then, without prejudice to any other powers, the local authority may serve a notice upon the owner of such house requiring him within a reasonable time, not being less than twenty-one days, specified in the notice, to execute such works as may be necessary to make the house in all respects reasonably fit for human habitation: Provided that if such house is not capable without reconstruction of being rendered fit for human habitation, the owner may, within twenty-one days after the receipt of such notice, by written notice to the local authority declare his intention of closing the house for human habitation, and thereupon a closing order shall be deemed to have become operative in respect of such house. Any question arising under this proviso shall, in case of difference between the owner and the local authority, be determined by the Local Government Board. (2) If the notice of the local authority is not complied with, the local authority may- (a) at the expiration of the time specified in that notice if no such notice as aforesaid has been given by the owner; and (b) at the expiration of twenty-one days from the determination by the Local Government Board if such notice has been given |