Housing Act 1985

Supplementary provisions

176 Notices.

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe the form of any notice under this Part and the particulars to be contained in the notice.

(2) Where the form of, and the particulars to be contained in, a notice under this Part are so prescribed, a tenant who proposes to claim, or has claimed, to exercise the right to buy may request the landlord to supply him with a form for use in giving such notice; and the landlord shall do so within seven days of the request.

(3) A notice under this Part may be served by sending it by post.

(4) Where the landlord is a housing association, a notice to be served by the tenant on the landlord under this Part may be served by leaving it at, or sending it to, the principal office of the association or the office of the association with which the tenant usually deals.

(5) Regulations under this section—

(a) may make different provision with respect to different cases or descriptions of case, including different provision for different areas, and

(b) shall be made by statutory instrument.

177 Errors and omissions in notices.

(1) A notice served by a tenant under this Part is not invalidated by an error in, or omission from, the particulars which are required by regulations under section 176 to be contained in the notice.

(2) Where as a result of such an error or omission—

(a) the landlord has mistakenly admitted or denied the right to buy or the right to be granted a shared ownership lease in a notice under section 124 or 146, or

(b) the landlord or the Housing Corporation has formed a mistaken opinion as to any matter required to be stated in a notice by any of the provisions mentioned in sub-section (3) and has stated that opinion in the notice,

the parties shall, as soon as practicable after they become aware of the mistake, take all such steps (whether by way of amending, withdrawing or re-serving any notice or extending any period or otherwise) as may be requisite for the propose of securing that all parties are, as nearly as may be, in the same position as they would have been if the mistake had not been made.

(3) The provisions referred to in subsection (2)(b) are—

• section 125 (notice of purchase price, etc.),

• section 135 (notice of mortgage entitlement),

• section 147 (notice of initial contribution),

• paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 8 (notice of additional contribution), and

• paragraph 5 of Schedule 9 (notice of entitlement to further advance).

(4) Subsection (2) does not apply where the tenant has exercised the right to which the notice relates before the parties become aware of the mistake.

178 Costs.

(1) An agreement between—

(a) the landlord and a tenant claiming to exercise the right to buy, the right to be granted a shared ownership lease, or any such right as is mentioned in paragraphs 1(1), 2 or 8 of Schedule 8 (terms of shared ownership lease: right to acquire additional shares or call for conveyance of freehold), or

(b) the landlord or, as the case may be, the Housing Corporation and a tenant claiming to exercise the right to a mortgage, or such a right as is mentioned in paragraph 1 of Schedule 9 (right to further advances),

is void in so far as it purports to oblige the tenant to bear any part of the costs incurred by the landlord or Housing Corporation in connection with the tenant’s exercise of that right.

(2) Where a tenant exercises the right to a mortgage, or such a right as is mentioned in paragraph 1 of Schedule 9 (right to further advances), the landlord or, as the case may be, the Housing Corporation may charge to him the costs incurred by it in connection with his exercise of that right, but only—

(a) on the execution of the deed by which the mortgage is effected, and

(b) to the extent that the costs do not exceed such amount as the Secretary of State may by order specify.

(3) An order under this section—

(a) may make different provision with respect to different cases or descriptions of case, including different provision for different areas, and

(b) shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

179 Provisions restricting right to buy, etc. of no effect.

(1) A provision of a lease held by the landlord or a superior landlord, or of an agreement (whenever made), is void in so far as it purports to prohibit or restrict—

(a) the grant of a lease in pursuance of the right to buy or the right to be granted a shared ownership lease, or

(b) the subsequent disposal (whether by way of assignment, sub-lease or otherwise) of a lease so granted

or to authorise a forfeiture, or impose on the landlord or superior landlord a penalty or disability, in the event of such a grant or disposal.

(2) Where a dwelling-house let on a secure tenancy is land held—

(a) for the purposes of section 164 of the [1875 c. 55.] Public Health Act 1875 (pleasure grounds),or

(b) in accordance with section 10 of the [1906 c. 25.] Open Spaces Act 1906 (duty of local authority to maintain open spaces and burial grounds),

then, for the purposes of this Part, the dwelling-house shall be deemed to be freed from any trust arising solely by virtue of its being land held in trust for enjoyment by the public in accordance with section 164 or, as the case may be, section 10.

180 Statutory declarations.

A landlord, the Housing Corporation or the Secretary of State may, if the landlord, Corporation or Secretary of State thinks fit, accept a statutory declaration made for the purposes of this Part as sufficient evidence of the matters declared in it.

181 Jurisdiction of county court.

(1) A county court has jurisdiction—

(a) to entertain any proceedings brought under this Part, and

(b) to determine any question arising under this Part or under a shared ownership lease granted in pursuance of this Part;

but subject to sections 128 and 158 and paragraph 11 of Schedule 8 (which provide for matters of valuation to be determined by the district valuer).

(2) The jurisdiction conferred by this section includes jurisdiction to entertain proceedings on any such question as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b) notwithstanding that no other relief is sought than a declaration.

(3) If a person takes proceedings in the High Court which, by virtue of this section, he could have taken in the county court, he is not entitled to recover any costs.

(4) The Lord Chancellor may make such rules and give such directions as he thinks fit for the purpose of giving effect to this section; and such rules or directions may provide—

(a) for the exercise by a registrar of a county court of any jurisdition exercisable under this section, and

(b) for the conduct of proceedings in private.

(5) The power to make rules under this section is exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

182 Power to repeal or amend local Acts.

(1) The Secretary of State may by order repeal or amend a provision of a local Act passed before 8th August 1980 where it appears to him that the provision is inconsistent with a provision of this Part relating to the right to buy or the right to a mortgage.

(2) Before making an order under this section the Secretary of State shall consult any local housing authority appearing to him to be concerned.

(3) An order made under this section may contain such transitional, incidental or supplementary provisions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(4) An order under this section—

(a) may make different provision with respect to different cases or descriptions of case, including different provision for different areas, and

(b) shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

183 Meaning of “house”, “flat” and “dwelling-house”.

(1) The following provisions apply to the interpretation of “house”, “flat” and “dwelling-house” when used in this Part.

(2) A dwelling-house is a house if, and only if, it (or so much of its as does not consist of land included by virtue of section 184) is a structure reasonably so called; so that—

(a) where a building is divided horizontally, the flats or other units into which it is divided are not houses;

(b) where a building is divided vertically, the units into which it is divided may be houses;

(c) where a building is not structurally detached, it is not a house if a material part of it lies above or below the remainder of the structure.

(3) A dwelling-house which is not a house is a flat.

184 Land let with or used for purposes of dwelling-house.

(1) For the purpose of this Part land let together with a dwelling-house shall be treated as part of the dwelling-house, unless the land is agricultural land (within the meaning set out in section 26(3)(a) of the [1967 c. 9.] General Rate Act 1967) exceeding two acres.

(2) There shall be treated as included in a dwelling-house any land which is not within subsection (1) but is or has been used for the purpose of the dwelling-house if—

(a) the tenant, by a written notice served on the landlord at any time before he exercises the right to buy or the right to be granted a shared ownership lease, requires the land to be included in the dwelling-house, and

(b) it is reasonable in all the circumstances for the land to be so included.

(3) A notice under subsection (2) may be withdrawn by a written notice served on the landlord at any time before the tenant exercises the right to buy or the right to be granted a shared ownership lease.

(4) Where a notice under subsection (2) is served or withdrawn after the service of the notice under section 125 (landlord’s notice of purchase price, etc.), the parties shall, as soon as practicable after the service or withdrawal, take all such steps (whether by way of amending, withdrawing or re-serving any notice or extending any period or otherwise) as may be requisite for the purpose of securing that all parties are, as nearly as may be, in the same position as they would have been in if the notice under subsection (2) had been served or withdrawn before the service of the notice under section 125.

185 Meaning of “secure tenancy” and “secure tenant”.

(1) References in this Part to a secure tenancy or a secure tenant in relation to a time before 26th August 1984 are to a tenancy which would have been a secure tenancy if Chapter II of Part I of the [1980 c. 51.] Housing Act 1980 and Part I of the [1984 c. 29.] Housing and Building Control Act 1984 had then been in force or to a person who would then have been a secure tenant.

(2) For the purpose of determining whether a person would have been a secure tenant and his tenancy a secure tenancy—

(a) a predecessor of a local authority shall be deemed to have been such an authority, and

(b) a housing association shall be deemed to have been registered if it is or was so registered at any later time.

186 Members of a person’s family.

(1) A person is a member of another’s family within the meaning of this Part if—

(a) he is the spouse of that person, or he and that person live together as husband and wife, or

(b) he is that person’s parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or neice.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)—

(a) a relationship by marriage shall be treated as a relationship by blood,

(b) a relationship of the half-blood shall be treated as a relationship of the whole blood,

(c) the stepchild of a person shall be treated as his child, and

(d) an illegitimate child shall be treated as as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father.

187 Minor definitions.

In this Part—

• “improvement” means any alteration in, or addition to, a dwelling-house and includes—

  (a)

  any addition to, or alteration in, landlord’s fixtures and fittings and any addition or alteration connected with the provision of services to a dwelling-house,

  (b)

  the erection of a wireless or television aerial, and

  (c)

  the carrying out of external decoration;

• “long tenancy” means—

  (a)

  a long tenancy within the meaning of part IV,

  (b)

  a tenancy falling within paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the [1980 c. 52.] Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980, or

  (c)

  a tenancy falling within paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the [S.I. 1983/1113 (N.I. 15).] Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1983;

  and “long lease” shall be construed accordingly;

• “total share”, in relation to the interest of a tenant under a shared ownership lease, means his initial share plus any additional share or shares in the dwelling-house acquired by him.

188 Index of defined expressions: Part V.

The following Table shows provisions defining or otherwise explaining expressions used in this Part (other than provisions defining or explaining an expression used in the same section or paragraph):—

additional share and additional contribution (in relation to a tenant under a shared ownership lease)	paragraphs 1 and 3 of Schedule 8
bank	section 622
building society	section 622
cemetery section 622
charity	section 662
compulsory disposal	section 161
co-operative housing association	section 5(2)
dwelling-house	sections 183 and 184
effective discount (in relation to shares under a shared ownership lease)	section 148 and paragraph 3 of Schedule 8
exempted disposal	section 160
family (member of)	section 186
flat	section 183
friendly society	section 622
full mortgage	section 133(5)
house	section 183
housing association	section 5(1)
housing trust	section 6
improvement	section 187
incumbrances	paragraph 7 of Schedule 6
initial share and initial contribution (in relation to a shared ownership lease.)	sections 147 and 148
insurance company	section 622
lease	section 621
local authority	section 4(e)
local housing authority	section 1, 2(2)
long tenancy (and long lease)	section 187
new town corporation	section 4(b)
prescribed percentage (in relation to shares in a shared ownership lease)	section 145
public sector tenancy (and public sector tenant)	paragraphs 6 to 10 of Schedule 4
purchase price	section 126
registered (in relation a housing association)	section 5(4)
regular armed forces of the Crown	section 622
relevant disposal	section 159 (and see section 452(3))
relevant time	section 122(2)
right to be granted a shared ownership lease	section 143
right to buy	section 118(1)
right to further advances	paragraph 1 of Schedule 9
right to a mortgage	section 132
secure tenancy and secure tenant	sections 79 and 185
tenant’s incumbrance	paragraph 7 of Schedule 6
total share (of a tenant under a shared ownership lease)	section 187
trustee savings bank	section 622
urban development corporation	section 4(d)