18 Housing and Building Control Act 1984
This Act deals with two (virtually unconnected) problems. Part I concerns the disposal of public sector dwellings and the rights of secure tenants. It extends the “right to buy” to certain cases where the landlord has a leasehold (not a freehold) interest, provided that the landlord’s lease is long enough to create (in the case of a house) a sublease of 21 years and (in the case of a flat) a sublease of 50 years. Other important amendments are: (1) the period of residence entitling tenants to exercise their “right to buy” is reduced from three years to two years; (2) tenants whose mortgage entitlement is insufficient to enable them to buy the dwelling are entitled to participate in a “shared ownership lease” and to purchase further shares in the equity until the whole interest of the landlord in that lease has been acquired; (3) tenants deprived of the “right to buy” because their landlord enjoys charitable status are entitled to a “transferable discount” from public funds, ie they can transfer the value of their discount to the purchase of another dwelling; (4) the discount available to public sector tenants is increased to 32% plus 1% for each complete year that they have been a public sector tenant (up to a maximum of 60%).
Parts II and III of the Act deal with the supervision of building work otherwise than by local authorities. These provisions have subsequently been incorporated in the consolidation Act (the Building Act 1984). The situation now is that private supervision (and certification) of building work by approved inspectors is an optional alternative to building control by local authorities. An “approved inspector” is an inspector approved by the Secretary of State from one of the following institutions: RIBA, CIB, ICE, ISE, RICS, FAS, IAAS, IBCO (see the Building (Approved Inspectors etc) Regulations 1985). Other statutory instruments issued under the Building Act 1984 are (among other regulations) the Building (Prescribed Fees etc) Regulations 1985 and the Building Regulations 1985. The hitherto existing Building Regulations have been revoked and replaced by a new set of simplified provisions, supported by approved documents giving practical advice. (These regulations came into force on November 11 1985).
19 Housing Defects Act 1984
This Act provides reinstatement grants and (in some cases) the right to compel the repurchase of a dwelling if it was bought by a public sector tenant exercising his “right to buy” (under the Housing Act 1980) but it belongs to a class of dwellings since generally known to be “defective by reason of their design or construction”. Section 1 provides that the Secretary of State may designate a class of buildings as being eligible for re-instatement grants or repurchase if the buildings within that class are generally known to be defective and by virtue thereof “the value of some or all of the dwellings concerned has been substantially reduced”. Section 2 of the Act provides for the granting of assistance in respect of such a defective dwelling. A statutory instrument (SI 1984 no 1705) specifies £14,000 as the expenditure limit. The assistance is paid by the local housing authority. The total estimated cost of this exercise is £170m-£250m. (A free booklet — Housing Defects: Help for Private Owners — is available from the DOE and Welsh Office.)
20 Insolvency Act 1985
This Act combines (for the first time) statutory provisions relating to company insolvency (or “winding up”) and individual insolvency (or “bankruptcy”). The insolvency of a partnership has always been (and still remains) a form of individual insolvency. The provisions relating to individual insolvency are now a self-contained code (Part III of the Act), repealing almost all of the Bankruptcy Act 1914 and many other statutory provisions. The provisions relating to company insolvency are not (as yet) a self-contained code, and Part II of the Act must be read in conjunction with the Companies Act 1985. Part I of the Act makes it a criminal offence for a person to act as an “insolvency practitioner” (eg a liquidator or a trustee-in-bankruptcy) unless qualified to do so in accordance with that Part of the Act. The Act is the first step in an attempt to assimilate the law of company and individual insolvency, as already is the case in many (if not all) other EEC countries.
21 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
This Act consolidates a number of provisions from the Housing Acts which more properly fall under the heading of landlord and tenant law and which it would not, therefore, have been appropriate to include in the Housing Act 1985. These provisions are, however, sufficiently important to make it undesirable to leave them isolated in old Housing Acts, almost entirely repealed by the consolidation Act. The Act contains 40 sections (and no Schedules). Sections 1-3 reissue those provisions in the Housing Act 1974 which deal with the disclosure of the landlord’s identity and consequential provisions. Sections 4-7 reissue those provisions in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1962 which deal with the provision of rent books. Sections 8-10 reissue the “implied covenant” contained in the Housing Act 1957 (fitness for human habitation when a house is let at a low rent). Sections 11-17 reissue the “implied covenant” contained in sections 32 and 33 of the Housing Act 1961 (repairing obligations of a landlord for leases under seven years’ duration). Sections 18-30 reissue the provisions of the Housing Act 1980 (Schedule 19 and consequential provisions) relating to service charges. Section 31 reissues section 11 of the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975, which empowers the Secretary of State to restrict (or prevent) increases in dwelling-house rents. Sections 32-40 contain supplementary provisions of less importance. The Act does not apply to business tenancies or to agricultural holdings.
22 Local Government Act 1985
This extensive Act (106 sections and 17 Schedules) abolished the GLC and the metropolitan counties. Of particular importance are sections 3-7 (dealing with town and country planning) and section 8 (dealing with highways). In the Greater London area, the London Boroughs have become the only local planning authorities. In the old metro-counties, the metropolitan district councils have become the only local planning authorities. Section 4 (and Schedule 1) deals with development plans. A new concept has been created for Greater London and the old metro-counties — “unitary development plans”. These are not split into structure plans and local plans but are unitary plans divided into two parts. Part One corresponds closely to the structure plans employed elsewhere in England and Wales. Part Two covers those problems dealt with in local plans elsewhere. Unitary development plans do not require the approval of the Secretary of State (cf structure plans). However, they must be sent for inspection to the Secretary of State, who then has 21 days in which to direct the authority not to adopt the plan without first taking steps required by him. Section 5 requires the local planning authorities in London to establish a joint planning committee to act as an advisory body. Sections 6-8 deal with listed buildings, conservation areas, ancient monuments, national parks, and highways. Abolition of the GLC and the metropolitan counties (Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire) took place on March 31/April 1 1986.
23 Matrimonial Homes Act 1983
This Act consolidates the Matrimonial Homes Act 1967 and various amendments made to it (in the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act 1970, the Land Charges Act 1972, the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976, the Rent Act 1977, the Housing Act 1980 and the Matrimonial Homes and Property Act 1981).
24 Mobile Homes Act 1983
This Act replaces sections 1-6 of the Mobile Homes Act 1975 (which was always intended to be a temporary measure). The Act applies to any agreement under which a person is entitled to station a “mobile home” on land forming part of a “protected site” and to occupy that mobile home as his only or main residence. By virtue of any such agreement, the Act provides that certain implied terms shall apply between the parties (namely those contained in Part I of Schedule 1 to the Act) and that it shall not be possible to contract out of those implied terms. The agreement is expressed to be binding on the landowner’s successors-in-title, and enforceable by the occupier’s widow, widower, or other successor-in-title on death. The terms implied by the Act include terms about the duration of the agreement and the right of the occupier to sell his mobile home and to assign the agreement. (The agreement cannot extend beyond the duration of the landowner’s own interest in the land — and, hence, it does not bind the landowner’s landlord when a reversion falls in — nor can the agreement extend beyond the duration of any relevant planning permission for the site. Subject to these limits, however, the agreement cannot be terminated against the occupier’s wishes, except by order of the court.)
25 New Towns and Urban Development Corporations Act 1985
This Act amends sections 36-37 of the New Towns Act 1981. That Act was a consolidation Act covering virtually the whole law relating to new towns. The 1985 Act amends the objects of the Commission for the New Towns by stating that the commission is under a duty eventually to dispose of property transferred to it by the development corporations. The Act envisages the final liquidation of the commission by amending Schedule 9 to the New Towns Act 1981. This amendment empowers the Secretary of State to dissolve the commission. Any property, rights, liabilities and obligations will then be vested in the Secretary of State, or some other minister of the Crown, or an accountable public authority. There are also a number of consequential amendments to the 1981 Act.
26 Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984
Section 1 of this Act amends the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, so as to make some provision for the safety of some trespassers on land and to put into statutory form the duty of “common sence and common humanity” recognised to be owed to them by the common law — losing (so it must be said) much of its conceptual beauty in the legislative process (see British Railways v Herrington (1972) for the factors relevant to a duty towards trespassers). Section 2 amends the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, to the advantage of farmers, industrialists and other landowners whose property might be attractive to those organising recreational or educational visits. It is now permissible for the landowner to stipulate that such visits shall be without liability “for loss or damage suffered by reason of the dangerous state of the premises”. He cannot rely on this exemption, however, if the granting of the access to the visitors falls within his own business purposes — eg if he runs a “theme park” or a funfair.
27 Rates Act 1984
Parts I and II of this Act impose “rate-capping” — the power of the Secretary of State to impose selective and general limitations on the rates and precepts levied by local authorities. Part III contains (among other provisions) a statutory duty on local authorities to consult industrial and commercial ratepayers about its proposals for expenditure and the financing of expenditure in the next financial year.
28 Rent (Amendment) Act 1985
Part II of Schedule 15 to the Rent Act 1977 contains 10 Cases (Cases 11-20) in which the court must grant possession of a dwelling to the landlord. Case 11 (as amended by the Housing Act 1980) originally stated that the landlord was entitled to possession if (having “occupied the dwelling-house as his residence”) he “let it on a regulated tenancy and: (a) not later than at the beginning of the tenancy (he) . . . gave notice in writing to the tenant that possession might be recovered under this case . . .”.
In the case of Pocock v Steel (1984) a landlord created a tenancy, having first given the written notice required by Case 11. When that tenancy came to an end, he created another one, without first returning to live in that house again. The Court of Appeal applied a literal interpretation to the Act and held that the landlord had to occupy the dwelling at the beginning of each new tenancy in order to obtain the benefit of Case 11. The 1985 Act has speedily remedied this defect in Case 11 by making it clear that the landlord will be entitled to possession if he occupied the dwelling as his residence “at any time before the letting”. The amendment is retrospective in effect. There is also a transitional provision to allow landlords to rely, once again, on Case 11 if (in response to Pocock v Steel) they created shorthold tenancies instead of returning to live in the dwelling in an attempt to revive their Case 11 rights.
29 Town and Country Planning Act 1984
Town and country planning legislation does not, as a general rule, apply to the Crown. This privilege can, in fact, be an incumbrance when the Crown wishes to sell land — it cannot (under ordinary principles) sell that land with the benefit of any planning permission. This Act enables the Crown to apply for planning permission for land, thereby increasing the value of that land if planning permission is granted.
30 Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act 1985
This Act (three sections) amends section 62 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 and section 60 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972. The effect of the amendment is to widen the effectiveness of a tree preservation order. When trees in a woodland have been uprooted or destroyed contrary to a tree preservation order, it will now be possible for the local planning authority to order the replanting of the same number of trees on or near to the land where the trees once stood. Heretofore, an order for the replanting of trees could apply only to individually protected trees.
31 Town and Country Planning (Compensation) Act 1985
This Act contains minor, technical — but rather important — amendments to the compensation provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971. The Act amends two sections in the 1971 Act (sections 165 and 169). Section 165 provides compensation where planning permission (granted by the General Development Order) has been revoked or amended under Article 4 of that order. The 1985 Act now imposes a limitation period of 12 months for the submission of such a compensation claim. Section 169 provides compensation for any restriction on development covered by Part II of Schedule 8 to the 1971 Act. Para 3 of that Schedule referred to an enlargement of a building by 10% in cubic content and floorspace. This gave speculators the right to claim compensation if an application to build a penthouse on top of an old block of flats was refused by the local planning authority: Peaktop Properties (Hampstead) Ltd v Camden (1983), where the 10% tolerance was interpreted as being 10% of the whole block, not 10% of any individual flat within that block. The amendment to section 169 now makes it clear that para 3 must not (any longer) be construed in that way. No compensation will be payable if the proposed enlargement relates to a building already divided horizontally into two or more separate dwellings, unless the enlargement (1) would not amount to more than 10% of the cubic content of “any such dwelling contained in the building” and (2) would not increase the number of dwellings in that building.
32 Wildlife and Countryside (Amendment) Act 1985
This Act makes several amendments to section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (relating to “areas of special scientific interest”) and to section 43 of the same Act (maps of National Parks). The statutory duty of the Forestry Commissioners is also amended so as to require them to endeavour to achieve a “reasonable balance” between afforestation and the supply of timber (on the one hand) and conservation and the enhancement of natural beauty (on the other). The amendments to section 28 are mainly procedural and have the effect of giving greater certainty to landowners in the management of any land of theirs which has been designated as an area of special scientific interest. The amendments to section 43 are mainly environmental and have the effect of giving greater protection to the National Parks. The Act also requires the Countryside Commission to issue guidelines (relating to the question of “outstanding natural beauty”). It imposes a corresponding duty on county planning authorities to act within those guidelines. The Badgers Act 1973 is also amended so as to reverse the burden of proof in a prosecution for attempting to kill, injure or to take a badger. (If there is reasonable evidence of any such attempt, it will be for the defendant to show that he had no such intention towards the badger.)
