(1)In this section—
" common property" means common stairs or passages or private courts;
" owner ", in relation to common property, means the owner or owners of lands or premises having a right of access by the common property ;
" private court " means any area which—
is maintained or liable to be maintained by a person other than a local authority ; and
forms a common access to lands or premises separately occupied.
(2)A district or islands council may—
(a)provide and maintain lighting in common property; and
(b)light and extinguish the lights in the common property or arrange for that to be done.
(3)A district or islands council may continue to provide and maintain lighting in any place where they provided and maintained it immediately before the commencement of subsection (2) above notwithstanding that the place is not common property.
(4)Where, and to the extent that, the district or islands council for the area in which any common property is situated has not exercised the powers conferred upon them by subsection (2) above, it shall be the duty of the owner—
(a)to provide and maintain lighting in the common property to the satisfaction of the district or islands council; and
(b)to light and extinguish the lights in the common property at such times as the district or islands council may require by order published in accordance with subsection (6) below.
(5)A district or islands council may by notice in writing require the owner to comply with subsection (4) (a) above within 14 days of the date of service of the notice on the owner.
(6)An order made under subsection (4)(b) above shall be published once weekly for at least two weeks in a newspaper circulating in the area of the district or islands council.
(7)In the event of the owner's failing to comply with subsection (4) above, the district or islands council may provide and maintain lighting or, as the case may be, light and extinguish the lights in the common property.
(8)An authorised officer of the district or islands council shall be entitled at any reasonable time to enter common property for the purpose of determining whether subsection (4) above is being complied with and a person authorised to do so by such a council shall be entitled at any reasonable time to enter such property and to do there anything which the district or islands council are entitled to do under subsection (2), (3) or (7) above.
(9)A district or islands council who have, under subsection (2), (3) or (7) above, provided or maintained lighting or lit or extinguished lights shall be entitled to recover from the owner the proportion of the expense thereby incurred by the council which the rateable value of the lands or premises owned by him which have a right of access by the common property bears to the total rateable value of all the lands and premises which have a right of access by the common property but may remit any sum or any part of any sum due to them under this subsection as they think fit.