§ 15. Mr. Palmerasked the Minister of Health if he will authorise local authorities to acquire compulsorily land for which a cost-of-works payment is due if the owner does not take steps to rebuild the house within six months of receiving a warning from the local authority.
§ Mr. BevanA local authority may at any time make a compulsory purchase order to acquire land for housing purposes. While I am anxious to encourage the owners of demolished houses to rebuild their houses as soon as possible, where this can be done at a reasonable cost, I could not agree to the use of the powers of compulsory purchase as a penalty.