Page "Harold Wilson" Paragraph 53

The 1965 Housing ( Slum Clearance Compensation ) Act continued a provision for home owners of unfit dwellings purchased between 1939 and 1955 to be compensated at market values.

The Building Control Act of 1966 introduced building licensing to give priority to housing construction.

Under the Supplementary Benefit Act of 1966, an owner occupier on benefits was entitled to an allowance for repairs, insurance, rates, and “ reasonable ” interest charges on a mortgage.

A Land Commission was also established to purchase land for building and therefore prevent profiteering in land values, although it only had limited success.

The aim of the Land Commission was to purchase land for public goods such as housing or shopping redevelopment ( compulsorily, if the need arose ), and investigated the planning needs of a particular area in conjunction with the Ministry of Housing and some planning authorities to see if any land in any particular area would be needed for such developmental schemes.

Although the Land Commission purchased substantial quantities of land, it did not become the dominant influence in the land market that the government had hoped for.