Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
2002 No. 1860
HOUSING, ENGLAND AND WALES
REGULATORY REFORM
The Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002
Made 18th July 2002
Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2) and (3)
Whereas:
(a) The Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, as respects England, and the Secretary of State for Wales, as respects Wales, (“the Secretaries of State”) are each of the opinion that—
certain provisions of the Housing Act 19851, the Local Government and Housing Act 19892, and the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 19963impose burdens upon local housing authorities in the exercise of their functions in relation to the provision of financial and other assistance for, or in connection with, the improvement, repair and renovation of housing;
Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 contains an anomaly, in that it provides for grants under section 1(1)(c) of that Act to be available in relation to dwellings but not in relation to houseboats or park homes;
the provisions of this Order do not remove any necessary protection, or prevent any person from continuing to exercise any right or freedom which he might reasonably expect to continue to exercise;
the provisions of this Order, taken as a whole, strike a fair balance between the public interest and the interests of the persons affected by burdens created by this Order;
the extent to which this Order removes or reduces the burdens referred to in sub-paragraph (i), or has other beneficial effects for persons affected by those burdens, makes it desirable for this Order to be made;
(b) the Secretaries of State have consulted4—
such organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests substantially affected by the provisions of this Order,
such organisations as appear to them to be representative of statutory bodies to whose functions those provisions relate;
the National Assembly for Wales, and
such other persons as they consider appropriate;
(c) the Secretaries of State, having undertaken that consultation, consider it appropriate to proceed with the making of this Order;
(d) the Secretaries of State have laid before Parliament a document containing proposals in the form of a draft of this Order, together with details of the matters specified in section 6(2) of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001;
(e) in relation to that document, the period for Parliamentary consideration (within the meaning of section 8 of that Act) has expired;
(f) the Secretaries of State have had regard to the representations made during that period and, in particular, to the Sixth Report (session 2001–2) of the Deregulation and Regulatory Reform Committee of the House of Commons and the Fifteenth Report (session 2001–2) of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee of the House of Lords with regard to that document;
(g) the Secretaries of State have laid with a draft of this Order a statement giving details of the matters specified in section 8(5) of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001; and
(h) the Secretaries of State have secured the agreement of the National Assembly for Wales to the making of this Order (which includes provision removing or modifying functions of the Assembly):
Now, therefore, the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, as respects England, and the Secretary of State for Wales, as respects Wales, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 1 of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001, with the agreement of the National Assembly for Wales, hereby make the following Order, of which a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament:
Citation and commencement
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002.
(2) The following provisions—
(a)
(a) this article,
(b)
(b) articles 2 to 9 and Schedule 1,
(c)
(c) article 14 and Schedule 5,
(d)
(d) article 15 and Schedule 6, in so far as they relate to—
(i) the Local Government Act 19885,
(ii) the Government of Wales Act 19986, and
(iii) the 1989 Act, except sections 93 and 169,
shall come into force on the day after that on which this Order is made.
(3) The following provisions—
(a)
(a) article 10 and Schedule 2,
(b)
(b) article 11 and Schedule 3,
(c)
(c) article 12 and Schedule 4,
(d)
(d) article 13,
(e)
(e) article 15 and Schedule 6 (in so far as they are not already in force),
shall come into force on the day that falls 12 months after the day on which this Order is made.
Interpretation
2. In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires—
“the 1996 Act” means the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 19967;
“the 1989 Act” means the Local Government and Housing Act 19898;
“the 1985 Act” means the Housing Act 19859;
“the appropriate Minister”—
(a) in relation to a local housing authority in England, means the Secretary of State;
(b) in relation to a local housing authority in Wales, means the National Assembly for Wales;
“assistance” means assistance under article 3;
“assisted work” means work of any description in relation to the carrying out of which assistance is provided;
“living accommodation” means any of the following—
(a) a building or part of a building;
(b) a caravan, within the meaning of Part 1 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 196010(disregarding the amendment made by section 13(2) of the Caravan Sites Act 196811); and
(c) a boat or similar structure,
occupied or available for occupation for residential purposes (whether, in the case of a building or part of a building, in single or multiple units); and includes any yard, garden, outhouses and appurtenances belonging to the building or, as the case may be, the caravan, or the boat or similar structure, or usually enjoyed with it;
“local housing authority” means a district council, a London borough council, the Common Council of the City of London, a Welsh county council or county borough council, or the Council of the Isles of Scilly.
Power of local housing authorities to provide assistance
3.—(1) For the purpose of improving living conditions in their area, a local housing authority may provide, directly or indirectly, assistance to any person for the purpose of enabling him—
(a)
(a) to acquire living accommodation (whether within or outside their area);
(b)
(b) to adapt or improve living accommodation (whether by alteration, conversion or enlargement, by the installation of any thing or injection of any substance, or otherwise);
(c)
(c) to repair living accommodation;
(d)
(d) to demolish buildings comprising or including living accommodation;
(e)
(e) where buildings comprising or including living accommodation have been demolished, to construct buildings that comprise or include replacement living accommodation.
(2) The power conferred by paragraph (1)(a) may be exercised to assist a person to acquire living accommodation only where the authority—
(a)
(a) have acquired or propose to acquire (whether compulsorily or otherwise) his existing living accommodation; or
(b)
(b) are satisfied that the acquisition of other living accommodation would provide for that person a benefit similar to that which would be provided by the carrying out of work of any description in relation to his existing living accommodation.
(3) Assistance may be provided in any form.
(4) Assistance may be unconditional or subject to conditions, including conditions as to the repayment of the assistance or of its value (in whole or in part), or the making of a contribution towards the assisted work; but before imposing any such condition, or taking steps to enforce it, a local housing authority shall have regard to the ability of the person concerned to make that repayment or contribution.
(5) Before a local housing authority provide assistance to any person, they shall—
(a)
(a) give to that person a statement in writing of the conditions (if any) to which the assistance is to be subject; and
(b)
(b) satisfy themselves that that person has received appropriate advice or information about the extent and nature of any obligation (whether financial or otherwise) to which he will become subject in consequence of the provision of assistance.
(6) A local housing authority may take any form of security in respect of the whole or part of any assistance.
(7) Where any such security is taken in the form of a charge on any property, the local housing authority may at any time reduce the priority of the charge or secure its removal.
(8) This article is subject to articles 4 and 5.
(9) Nothing in this article affects any power of a local housing authority under Part 14 of the 1985 Act (loans for acquisition or improvement of housing).
Provision of assistance: supplementary
4. A local housing authority may not exercise the power conferred by article 3 in any case unless—
(a) they have adopted a policy for the provision of assistance under that article;
(b) they have given public notice of the adoption of the policy;
(c) they have secured that—
(i) a document in which the policy is set out in full is available for inspection, free of charge, at their principal office at all reasonable times; and
(ii) copies of a document containing a summary of the policy may be obtained by post (on payment, where a reasonable charge is made, of the amount of the charge); and
(d) the power is exercised in that case in accordance with that policy.
Protective provisions
5.—(1) A local housing authority may not provide assistance for a purpose specified in article 3(1)(b), (c) or (d) unless they are satisfied that the owner of the living accommodation concerned has consented to the carrying out of the assisted work.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), “owner”—
(a)
(a) in...
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