Housing Act 1961

13 Regulations prescribing management code

(1) With a view to providing a code for the management of houses which may be applied under the last foregoing section, the Minister may by regulations contained in a statutory instrument make provision for the purpose of ensuring that the person managing a house which, or a part of which, is let in lodgings or which is occupied by members of more than one family observes proper standards of management.

Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this section, regulations under this section may, in particular, require the person managing the house to ensure the repair, maintenance, cleansing and good order—

(a) of all means of water supply and drainage in the house,

(b) of kitchens, bathrooms and water closets in common use,

(c) of sinks and wash-basins in common use,

(d) of common staircases, corridors and passage ways, and

(e) of outbuildings, yards and gardens in common use,

and to make satisfactory arrangements for the disposal of refuse and litter from the house.

(2) For the purposes of the foregoing subsection and regulations made under this section, the person managing a house which, or a part of which, is let in lodgings or which is occupied by members of more than one family shall be defined as—

(a) the person who is an owner or a lessee of the house and who, directly or through an agent or trustee, receives rents or other payments from persons who are tenants of parts of the house, or who are lodgers, and

(b) where those rents or other payments are received through another person as his agent or trustee, that other person,

but the foregoing definition may be varied or replaced by regulations under this section.

(3) Regulations under this section—

(a) may make different provision for different types of houses,

(b) may provide for keeping a register of the names and addresses of those who are managers of houses,

(c) may impose duties on persons who have an estate or interest in a house or any part of a house to which the regulations apply as to the giving of information to the local authority, and in particular may make it the duty of any person who acquires or ceases to hold an estate or interest in the house to notify the local authority,

(d) may impose duties on persons who live in the house for the purpose of ensuring that the person managing the house can effectively carry out the duties imposed on him by the regulations,

(e) may authorise the local authority to obtain information as to the number of individuals or households accommodated in the house,

(f) may make it the duty of the person managing the house to cause a copy of the order, and of the regulations, to be displayed in a suitable position in the house, and

(g) may contain such other incidental and supplementary provisions as may appear to the Minister to be expedient.

(4) If any person knowingly contravenes or without reasonable excuse fails to comply with any regulation under this section as applied under this Act in relation to any house he shall be liable on summary conviction—

(a) where he has not previously been convicted of an offence under this section, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, and

(b) where he has previously been convicted of an offence under this section, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to both.

(5) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.