§
(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, the owner of every dwelling-house which has remained unoccupied for a period of two months shall, within 14 days thereafter, give to the rating authority for the area in which the house is situated notice in writing of the date when the house became unoccupied, or in the case of a newly erected dwelling-house (including a dwelling-house produced by the structural alteration of a building), notice in writing of the date when it became available for occupation.
(2) Any person who fails to give a notice which is required to be given under the foregoing subsecton shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of £20:
Provided that it shall be a defence in any proceedings under this section that the dwelling-house in question became occupied during the period of 14 days mentioned in the foregoing subsection.
(3) This section does not apply to a dwelling-house owned by a rating authority or to a dwelling-house which was last occupied by the owner thereof.—[Dr. Dickson Mabon.]
§ Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.