(1)Subject to this section, any expenses recoverable by a local authority under section 18(3) of the Act of 1961 (default powers of local authority as respects work to be carried out under Part II of that Act) together with interest accrued due thereon, shall, until recovered, be a charge on the premises to which the notice relates and on all estates and interests therein.
The provisions of this subsection shall be in substitution for the provisions of section 18(4) of the Act of 1961 (which charges the expenses on the estate or interest of the person on whom the notice was served), and subsection (5) of that section (which prelates to the enforcement of a charge) shall apply as if the reference to that subsection (4) were a reference to this subsection.
(2)On the date on which a local authority under the said section 18(3) serve a demand for expenses incurred by them, they shall also serve a copy of the demand on every person who is to their knowledge an owner or lessee or mortgagee of the house or building; and within twenty-one days from that date any person may appeal to the county court against the demand.
On the appeal no question may be raised which might have been raised on an appeal against the relevant notice under section 14(5) or 17(1) of the Act of 1961.
(3)Until the demand becomes operative in accordance with this section the charge under subsection (1) of this section shall not take effect, and accordingly in section 18(5) of the Act of 1961 for the words from " date " to the end of the subsection there shall be substituted the words " date when the charge takes effect ".
(4)Any such demand shall, if no appeal is brought under this section, become operative on the expiration of twenty-one days from the date of service of the demand on the person on whom the relevant notice was served; and any such demand against which an appeal is brought shall, if and so far as it is confirmed on appeal, become operative on the final determination of the appeal.
(5)Any such demand shall, subject to the right of appeal conferred by this section, be final and conclusive as to any matters which can be raised on any such appeal and as to any matters which could have been raised on an appeal against the relevant notice under section 14(5) or 17(1) of the Act of 1961.
(6)In section 14(4) of the Act of 1961 (under which a local authority are to inform any owner or lessee of the serving of a notice under that section), and in section 15(4) of that Act (which, as extended by section 16 of that Act, contains corresponding provisions for sections 15 and 16) after the words " or lessee " there shall be inserted the words " or mortgagee ".
(7)The right of appeal conferred by sections 14(5) and 17(1) of the Act of 1961 (appeal against notices under sections 14, 15 and 16) shall be exercisable not only by the person on whom the notice was served but also by any other person who is an owner, lessee or mortgagee of the house or building to which the notice relates.
(8)So much of section 18 of the Act of 1961 as authorises the recovery of expenses incurred by a local authority summarily as a civil debt shall cease to have effect.
(9)This section shall have effect as respects any notice served after the coming into force of this section.
(10)This section shall be construed as one with Part II of the Act of 1961.