Section 269: Power of local authority to control use of moveable dwellings., Public Health Act 1936

For the purpose of regulating in accordance with the provisions of this section the use of moveable dwellings within their district, a local authority may grant—

licences authorising persons to allow land occupied by them within the district to be used as sites for moveable dwellings; and

licences authorising persons to erect or station, and use, such dwellings within the district;

in the case of a licence authorising the use of land, with respect to the number and classes of moveable dwellings which may be kept thereon at the same time, and the space to be kept free between any two such dwellings, with respect to water supply, and for securing sanitary conditions;

in the case of a licence authorising the use of a moveable dwelling, with respect to the use of that dwelling (including the space to be kept free between it and any other such dwelling) and its removal at the end of a specified period, and for securing sanitary conditions.

and may attach to any such licence such conditions as they think fit—

Subject to the provisions of this section, a person shall not keep a moveable dwelling on any one site, or on two or more sites in succession, if any one of those sites is within one hundred yards of another of them, on more than forty-two consecutive days, or sixty days in any twelve consecutive months, unless either he holds in respect of that dwelling such a licence from the local authority of the district as is mentioned in paragraph (ii) of subsection (1) of this section, or the occupier of each piece of land on which the dwelling is kept holds in respect of that land such a licence from that authority as is mentioned in paragraph (i) of the said subsection.

Where under this section an application for a licence is made to a local authority, the authority shall be deemed to have granted it unconditionally, unless within four weeks from the receipt thereof they give notice to the applicant stating that his application is refused, or stating the conditions subject to which a licence is granted, and, if an applicant is aggrieved by the refusal of the authority to grant him a licence, or by any condition attached to a licence granted, he may appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction.

Nothing in this section applies—

to a moveable dwelling which—

is kept by its owner on land occupied by him in connection with his dwelling-house and is used for habitation only by him or by members of his household; or

is kept by its owner on agricultural land occupied by him and is used for habitation only at certain seasons and only by persons employed in farming operations on that land; or

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

to a moveable dwelling while it is not in use for human habitation and is being kept on premises the occupier of which permits no moveable dwellings to be kept thereon except such as are for the time being not in use for human habitation.

A person who contravenes any of the provisions of this section, or fails to comply with any condition attached to a licence granted to him under this section, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale, and to a further fine not exceeding £2 for each day on which the offence continues after conviction therefor.

For the purposes of this section—

the expression “moveable dwelling” includes any tent, any van or other conveyance whether on wheels or not, and, subject as hereinafter provided, any shed or similar structure, being a tent, conveyance or structure which is used either regularly, or at certain seasons only, or intermittently, for human habitation:Provided that it does not include a structure to which building regulations apply;

the owner of land which is not let shall be deemed to be the occupier thereof;

if a moveable dwelling is removed from the site on which it stands, but within forty-eight hours is brought back to the same site or to another site within one hundred yards thereof, then, for the purpose of reckoning any such period of forty-two consecutive days as is mentioned in subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section, it shall be deemed not to have been removed or, as the case may be, to have been moved direct from the one site to the other.

Subject as hereinafter provided, this section shall not apply to any district in which at the commencement of this Act there was in force a local Act containing provisions enabling the local authority to regulate, by means of byelaws or licences or otherwise, the use of moveable dwellings or camping grounds:

Section 269: Power of local authority to control use of moveable dwellings.

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