Re Development Areas

Re-development areas. By ss. 34 et seq. of the (English) Housing Act, 1936, a local authority may acquire an area of land by agreement or compulsorily for houses for the working classes if after an inspection for the purposes of detecting overcrowding under s. 1 of the Act or otherwise the authority is satisfied that the area contains fifty or more working class houses, of which at least one-third are overcrowded or unfit for human habitation, and that the industrial and social conditions of the district are such that the area should be used for working-class houses and that the area should be re-developed as a whole for their accommodation. The authority must in those conditions prepare a re-development plan by reference to a map to be submitted to the Minister of Health for approval, and the Minister must hold a public inquiry if there is any objection, before giving or withholding or modifying the plan; in any other case approval may be given, qualified or withheld at the Minister'' discretion. See s. 46, Sch. I., art. 5, and Sch. II., as to compensation, and the validity of compulsory purchase orders. The general provisions in Part V. of the Act, ss. 71-104, apply to re-development areas. As in the case of Clearance Orders, owners may offer to re-develop and recondition the area before the Minister of Health has approved a re-development plan (see ss. 51-53). See HOUSING.