Town and Regional Planning Act, 1934

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Recovery of expenses by responsible authority.

53.—(1) Whenever the responsible authority in exercise of a power conferred by this Part of this Act has done any work or thing on or in respect of any structure or any land and such doing of such work or thing was rendered necessary by any work, act, or thing done or omitted (in this section referred to as the occasioning matter) by any person on or in respect of such structure or such land (as the case may be) after the relevant date, the responsible authority shall, save as is otherwise provided by this section, be entitled to be paid by and to recover (as a civil debt in any court of competent jurisdiction) from the person or the personal representative or successor in title of the person who was responsible for the occasioning matter all expenses reasonably incurred by the responsible authority in doing the said work or thing so done by them as aforesaid.

(2) The responsible authority shall not be entitled to recover under this section expenses incurred by them where either the occasioning matter was done or omitted under and in accordance with a special permission or the occasioning matter was an act which consisted solely of the completion of work which either was begun before and was in progress on the relevant date or was begun under and in accordance with a general permission and in either case was not done in contravention of a special prohibition.

(3) All moneys recoverable under this section by the responsible authority in respect of expenses incurred by such responsible authority shall, immediately upon completion of the work or thing in the doing of which such expenses were so incurred, become and be a charge on the land on which such work or thing was done or, in the case of any work or thing done on or to a structure, on such structure (if and so far as it still exists) and the rateable hereditament or tenement consisting of or including such land or structure.

(4) No matter or thing on which an order of the District Court quashing a notice under this Part of this Act could have been grounded shall be raised or admitted as a defence to proceedings for the recovery under this section (whether by action of debt or by enforcement of the charge created by this section) of expenses incurred by the responsible authority in the execution of any work or thing to which such notice related.