(1)No preliminary notice or improvement notice shall be served in respect of any premises in which there is a Crown or Duchy interest except with the consent of the appropriate authority and, where a preliminary notice or improvement notice is served with the consent of the appropriate authority, this Part of this Act shall apply to the premises as it applies to premises in which there is no such interest.
(2)No preliminary notice or improvement notice shall be served in respect of any premises if the person having control of the premises is—
(a)a local authority,
(b)the Commission for the New Towns or a development corporation,
(c)a housing association satisfying one of the conditions set out in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 33(2) of the Housing Repairs and Rents Act 1954 (exclusion of certain lettings from Rent Acts) or, in Scotland, a housing association satisfying one of the conditions set out in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 25(2) of the Scottish Act of 1954 (exclusion of certain lettings from Rent Acts),
(d)a housing trust which is a charity within the meaning of the Charities Act 1960 or, in Scotland, a housing trust within the meaning of section 39(1) of the Scottish Act of 1954 which was in existence on 13th November 1953,
(e)the Scottish Special Housing Association,
(f)the Housing Corporation established under Part I of this Act, or
(g)an executive council constituted under section 32 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947,
and if after such a notice is served any such authority as is mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (g) above becomes the person having control of the premises, any such notice as respects the premises, and any undertaking accepted under this Part of this Act as respects the premises, shall cease to have effect.
(3)If, in consequence of the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, an improvement notice ceases to have effect it shall be the duty of the authority mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (g) of that subsection—
(a)where the notice related to a dwelling or other premises in England and Wales, to notify the officer who registered the notice or undertaking in the register of local land charges, and to furnish him with all information required by him for the purpose of cancelling the registration, and
(b)where the notice related to a dwelling in Scotland, to notify the local authority and to furnish them with all information required by them for the purpose of recording in the General Register of Sasines a notice stating that the improvement notice has ceased to have effect, and the local authority shall as soon as practicable after receiving such notification cause to be recorded in the General Register of Sasines a notice to the said effect.
(4)In this section " Crown or Duchy interest" means an interest belonging to Her Majesty in right of the Crown or of the Duchy of Lancaster, or belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall or belonging to a government department, or held in trust for Her Majesty for the purposes of a government department, and " the appropriate authority "—
(a)in relation to land belonging to Her Majesty in right of the Crown and forming part of the Crown Estate, means the Crown Estate Commissioners, and, in relation to any other land belonging to Her Majesty in right of the Crown, means the government department having the management of that land ;
(b)in relation to land belonging to Her Majesty in right of the Duchy of Lancaster, means the Chancellor of the Duchy;
(c)in relation to land belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall, means such person as the Duke of Cornwall, or the possessor for the time being of the Duchy of Cornwall, appoints; and
(d)in relation to land belonging to a government department or held in trust for Her Majesty for the purposes of a government department, means that department;
and if any question arises as to what authority is the appropriate authority in relation to any land, that question shall be referred to the Treasury, whose decision shall be final.
(5)In this section " local authority " means—
(a)in relation to England and Wales, any authority being, within the meaning of the Local Loans Act 1875 an authority having power to levy a rate, and includes—
(i)any joint board or joint committee all the constituent members of which are such authorities as aforesaid, and
(ii)any police authority, but does not include the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District;
(b)in relation to Scotland, a local authority, joint board or joint committee as respectively defined by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947.