The Tamil Nadu Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1971 (Act No. XI of 1971)

Purpose and coverage

The Tamil Nadu Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1971 applies throughout Tamil Nadu. It addresses areas where overcrowding, insanitary conditions, unsafe buildings, poor streets, inadequate ventilation, or lack of water supply, drainage and sanitation may threaten health, safety or convenience.

The legislation also provides for improving living conditions, clearing areas unfit for human habitation, acquiring land for improvement or redevelopment, and rehabilitating slum dwellers.

Who may be affected

The Tamil Nadu Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1971 may affect:

• Owners of land or buildings in an area declared to be a slum area.
• Occupiers, including tenants, rent-free tenants and licensees.
• Lessees, mortgagees and others with an interest in affected property.
• People claiming an interest in compensation where land or buildings are acquired.
• Anyone proposing to erect, extend, alter or re-erect a building in a notified area.

An owner includes a person entitled to receive rent personally or as an agent, trustee, executor, administrator, receiver or guardian.

Main provisions

The Tamil Nadu Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1971 provides that:

• The State Government may declare an area to be a slum area by notification where specified health, safety, sanitation, overcrowding or building conditions exist.
• A separate declaration is required for a slum area to become a slum clearance area.
• Owners or occupiers of buildings in a slum area must submit the prescribed statement so that the building can be registered and a registration certificate issued.
• The prescribed authority may prohibit building erection in a slum area without prior written permission. An applicant must be given a reasonable opportunity to respond before permission is refused.
• The prescribed authority may require an owner to carry out specified improvement works, allowing at least sixty days in the notice.
• Improvement works may include structural alterations, water taps, bathing places, drains, latrines, lighting, courtyard paving, rubbish removal and necessary demolition.
• If the owner does not comply, the prescribed authority may carry out the work. Expenses and interest may be recovered as arrears of land revenue and become a charge on the affected property.

Property checks

A buyer or owner should check whether the property has been formally notified as a slum area or declared as a slum clearance area. They should also check for building registration, restrictions on construction, outstanding improvement notices, recoverable expenses and any resulting charge on the property.