Housing Act 1966

Power of authorised person to enter on land.

117

117.(1) An authorised person may, subject to the provisions of this section, enter on any land at all reasonable times for any purpose connected with this Act.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, an authorised person may enter on land in accordance with the said subsection (1) for the purpose of—

(a) survey or valuation, in the case of any house, building or other land which the housing authority by whom the authorised person was appointed may be authorised to acquire for the purposes of this Act,

(b) survey and examination where it appears to the housing authority by whom the authorised person was appointed that survey or examination is necessary in order to determine whether any function under this Act ought to be performed in respect of any house, building or other land.

(3) An authorised person entering on land under this section may do thereon all things reasonably necessary for the purpose for which the entry is made.

(4) Before an authorised person enters under this section on any land, the housing authority shall either obtain the consent, in the case of occupied land, of the occupier, or, in the case of unoccupied land, the owner or shall give to the owner or occupier, as the case may be, not less than fourteen days' notice in writing of the intention to make the entry.

(5) A person to whom a notice of intention to enter on land has been given under this section by the housing authority may, not later than fourteen days after the giving of such notice, apply, on notice to such authority, to the justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the district court district in which the land is situate for an order prohibiting the entry, and, upon the hearing of the application, the justice may, if he so thinks proper, either wholly prohibit the entry or specify conditions to be observed by the person making the entry.

(6) Where a justice of the District Court prohibits under this section a proposed entry on land, it shall not be lawful for any person to enter under this section on the land, and where a justice of the District Court specifies under this section conditions to be observed by persons entering on land, every person who enters under this section on the land shall observe the conditions so specified.

(7) F80[Any person who, by act or omission, obstructs an authorised person in the lawful exercise of the powers conferred by this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 and if the obstruction is continued after conviction the person shall be guilty of a further offence on every day on which the obstruction continues and for each such offence shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £100.]

(8) In this section, “authorised person” means a person who is appointed by the housing authority to be an authorised person for the purposes of this section.

Annotations

Amendments:

F80

Substituted (1.09.1992) by Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 (18/1992), s. 33(2), S.I. No. 223 of 1992.

Editorial Notes:

E210

The maximum fine of £1,000 translates into a class C fine not exceeding €2,500 as provided (4.01.2011) by Fines Act 2010 (8/2010), ss. 3, 6, S.I. No. 662 of 2010. The maximum fine of £100 translates into a class E fine not exceeding €500 as provided (4.01.2011) by Fines Act 2010 (8/2010), ss. 3, 8, S.I. No. 662 of 2010.