Housing Act 1988

60 Housing action trust areas

(1) Subject to section 61 below, the Secretary of State may by order designate an area of land for which, in his opinion, it is expedient that a corporation, to be known as a housing action trust, having the functions specified in this Part of this Act, should be established.

(2) The area designated by an order under this section may comprise two or more parcels of land which—

(a) need not be contiguous; and

(b) need not be in the district of the same local housing authority.

(3) An order under this section shall be made by statutory instrument but no such order shall be made unless a draft of it has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

(4) In deciding whether to make an order under this section designating any area of land, the Secretary of State shall have regard to such matters as he thinks fit.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4) above, among the matters to which the Secretary of State may have regard in deciding whether to include a particular area of land in an order under this section, are—

(a) the extent to which the housing accommodation in the area as a whole is occupied by tenants or owner-occupiers and the extent to which it is local authority housing;

(b) the physical state and design of the housing accommodation in the area and any need to repair or improve it;

(c) the way in which the local authority housing in the area is being managed; and

(d) the living conditions of those who live in the area and the social conditions and general environment of the area.

(6) An area designated by an order under this section shall be known as a housing action trust area and in the following provisions of this Part of this Act—

(a) such an area is referred to as a “designated area”; and

(b) an order under this section is referred to as a “designation order”.