1After section 29 of the Housing Act 1969 there shall be inserted the following sections:—
A general improvement area shall not be so defined as to include (but may be so defined as to surround) any land which is for the time being comprised in a housing action area declared under Part IV of the Housing Act 1974.
(1)If a local authority propose, by a preliminary resolution under section 28(1) of this Act, to declare their intention that an area should become a general improvement area and that area consists of or includes land which, immediately prior to the declaration, is comprised in a priority neighbourhood declared under Part VI of the Housing Act 1974, they shall indicate on the map referred to in the said section 28(1) the land which is so comprised (in this section referred to as "priority land").
(2)If a local authority, by a confirmatory resolution under section 28(2) of this Act, confirm a preliminary resolution and declare as a general improvement area an area which, immediately prior to the declaration, consists of or includes priority land, then, with effect from the date on which the confirmatory resolution is passed, the priority land shall be deemed, as the case may require, either—
(a)to have ceased to be a priority neighbourhood by virtue of a resolution passed on that date under section 39(3) of the Housing Act 1974 (as it applies in relation to such a neighbourhood by virtue of section 54 of that Act); or
(b)to have been excluded from the priority neighbourhood concerned by virtue of a resolution passed on that date under section 40(1) of that Act (as it applies in relation to such a neighbourhood by virtue of the said section 54).”
2(1)In section 30 of that Act (changes with respect to general improvement area) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection:—
“(1A)In any case where, by virtue of a resolution under subsection (1) above, any land is excluded from a general improvement area or, as the case may be, an area ceases to be a general improvement area, the resolution shall not affect the continued operation of this Part of this Act and of any other provision relating to general improvement areas in relation to any works which have been begun before the date on which the resolution takes effect, but, subject thereto, the exclusion or cessation shall apply with respect to the approval before that date of any expenditure in respect of works which have not been begun before that date.”
(2)Subsections (2) and (3) of that section (power of local authority by resolution to include land adjoining a general improvement area in that area) shall cease to have effect.
3In section 32 of that Act (general powers exercisable by local authority in general improvement area) in subsection (5) (nothing in section 32 to enable a local authority to make any grant where such a grant might be made under Part I of that Act) for the words " Part I of this Act" there shall be substituted the words " Part VII of the Housing Act 1974 ".
4(1)After subsection (5) of section 37 of that Act (power of Secretary of State by order to alter the maximum of the aggregate expenditure of local authorities which can be approved for the purposes of his contribution in respect of a general improvement area) there shall be inserted the following subsection:—
“(5A)Without prejudice to subsection (5) above, the Secretary of State may direct that, in the case of a particular general improvement area or any description of general improvement area, subsection (4) above shall have effect as if for the amount of £100 mentioned in that subsection, or such other amount as may for the time being be substituted for that amount under subsection (5) above, there were substituted a greater amount.”
(2)In subsection (7) of that section (for purposes of contributions by Secretary of State to local authorities towards expenditure in general improvement areas, certain expenditure by housing association to be treated as that of local authority) there shall be inserted before the words " housing association " , in the first and third places where they occur, the word " registered" and at the end of that subsection there shall be added the following subsection:—
“(8)In subsection (7) of this section ' registered housing association ' means a housing association registered in the register of housing associations established under section 13 of the Housing Act 1974”.
5In subsection (2) of section 40 of that Act (in relation to land in a general improvement area declared by them, the Greater London Council is to be deemed to be the local authority for certain purposes and certain functions are to be exerciseable by other authorities only after consultation with the Greater London Council) in paragraph
(a), for the words " sections 17 to 22 and 74 of this Act", there shall be substituted the words " section 74 of this Act and section 79 of the Housing Act " 1974 ", the words " Part I of this Act other than sections 17 to 22 " shall be omitted and for the words " and Part II of the Act of 1957 " there shall be substituted the words " Part II of the Act of 1957 and Part VII of the Housing Act 1974 other than section 79 " ; and in paragraph (b), for the words from " section 19 " to " that Act" there shall be substituted the words " or Part IV of the Housing Act 1964 ".