§ 66. Mr. Pageasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will make a detailed statement concerning the representations which should be made to him by owners of requisitioned houses who have cause for the exclusion of their houses from any order which he may contemplate making under the Requisitioned Houses Bill when it becomes law.
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§ Mr. H. BrookeI am prepared to consider representations where the owner of a requisitioned house thinks that inclusion of the property in an order under the Bill would cause him serious hardship.
Representations should be made as soon as possible. In making them, the owner should explain the nature of the hardship which might be suffered, and the circumstances giving rise to it. If he wants the requisitioned house for his own occupation, he should give details of the tenure of his present accommodation and the reasons why he needs to obtain vacant possession of his requisitioned house on 1st April next. If serious hardship is claimed on financial grounds, this should be supported with details of any commitment or liability which the owner may have undertaken on the assumption that his property would be derequisitioned by 31st March. In all cases information should be provided showing the owner's legal interest in the requisitioned property and the date when that interest was acquired. A copy of the owner's representations to me should be sent simultaneously to the local authority in possession of his property.
The purpose of the Bill is to prevent licensees in a limited number of cases from becoming trespassers on 1st April. In considering an owner's application for the exclusion of his property from an order, I shall weigh his claims against the ability of the local authority to re-house the occupants of the house in the time remaining before 31st March.