Catalogue description Central Housing Advisory Committee: Minutes and Papers

The Committee was established under section 24 of the Housing Act 1935 (now section 143 of the Housing Act 1957) to advise the Minister of Health (from 1951 the Minister of Housing and Local Government and from 1970 the Secretary of State for the Environment) generally on any housing matter and to make representations to him on any housing legislation and specifically on overcrowding in houses and on matters which were required to be referred to it from Housing Management Commissions, which in the event were never set up. When the Welsh Office was set up in 1965 the Committee advised both the Minister of Housing and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Wales. The Committee was abolished under section 13 of the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975.

The Minister was chairman of the Committee, his Parliamentary Under Secretaries were vice-chairman and his Housing Division provided the secretariat; other members were appointed for their personal qualities, normally for three years. The Committee usually met three times a year for discussion, but its main work was done through sub-committees. The sub-committees produced reports which were published and distributed to local authorities, together with recommendations from the Minister and Secretary of State for Wales.