National Heritage Act 1983

18 (1) Section 101 of the 1971 Act (urgent works for preservation of unoccupied buildings) shall be amended as follows.

(2) At the end of subsection (3) there shall be inserted—

“Before making a direction under this subsection in relation to a building situated in England, the Secretary of State shall consult with the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (in this section referred to as ' the Commission ').”

(3) After subsection (5) there shall be inserted—

“(5A) If it appears to the Secretary of State that any works are urgently necessary for the preservation of a building to which this section applies and which is situated in England, and if he would (apart from this subsection) act as mentioned in subsection (5) above, he shall (instead of so acting) authorise the Commission to execute such works as are specified in the authorisation.

(5B) In that case, the Commission may execute the works after giving the owner of the building not less than seven days notice in writing of their intention to do so.”

(4) In subsection (6) after " (5) above " there shall be inserted " and the Secretary of State may give notice to the owner of the building requiring him to pay the expenses of any works executed under subsection (5B) above ".

(5) In subsection (9) after " the local authority " there shall be inserted " (and the Commission, in a case where they have executed the works concerned) ".

(6) Nothing in sub-paragraph (3) affects works in respect of which a notice was served under section 101(5) of the 1971 Act before the appointed day.