Local Government Act 1988

24 Power to provide financial assistance for privately let housing accommodation. E+W+S

(1) Subject to section 25 below, a local housing authority shall have power to provide any person with financial assistance for the purposes of, or in connection with, the acquisition, construction, conversion, rehabilitation, improvement, maintenance or management (whether by that person or by another) of any property which is or is intended to be privately let as housing accommodation.

(2) For the purposes of this section and section 25 below a local authority provide a person with financial assistance if they do or agree to do any of the following, that is to say—

(a) make a grant or loan to that person;

(b) guarantee or join in guaranteeing the performance of any obligation owed to or by that person;

(c) indemnify or join in indemnifying that person in respect of any liabilities, loss or damage; or

(d) if that person is a body corporate, acquire share or loan capital in that person.

(3) For the purposes of this section property is privately let as housing accommodation at any time when—

(a) it is occupied as housing accommodation in pursuance of a lease or licence of any description or under a statutory tenancy; and

(b) the immediate landlord of the occupier of the property is a person other than a local authority in England and Wales or a public-sector landlord in Scotland.

(4) Neither section 438 of the M1 Housing Act 1985 (local authority mortgage interest rates) nor section 219 of the M2 Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (local authority home-loan interest rates) shall apply in relation to anything done under this section.

(5) In the M3 Housing Associations Act 1985—

(a) in sections 18(1) and 31(1) (powers exercisable in relation to registered charities which have received grants or loans under certain provisions), after the word “received” there shall be inserted the words “financial assistance under section 24 of the Local Government Act 1988 or”;

(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

(c) in section 69(1) (agreements which may be varied or terminated by the Secretary of State), after paragraph (f) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(g) an agreement for a loan or grant to a registered housing association under section 24 of the Local Government Act 1988 (power to provide financial assistance for privately let housing accommodation).”

(6) In this Part—

• “disposal”, in relation to any land, includes a disposal by the creation of any interest in the land;

• “housing accommodation”, in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in Part II of the M4 Housing Act 1985;

• “landlord”, in relation to a person whose occupation of any property is in pursuance of a lease or statutory tenancy, has the same meaning as in the M5 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 or, in Scotland, the M6 Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 and, in relation to a person whose occupation is in pursuance of a licence, means the person who for the time being owns the interest in right of which the licence was granted;

• “lease”, in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in the Housing Act 1985;

• “loan” includes any form of credit and the remission (whether in whole or in part and whether temporarily or permanently) of any liability or obligation;

• “local authority”—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, means a local housing authority or a county council;

(b) in relation to Scotland, means a regional, islands or district council;

• “local housing authority”—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in the Housing Act 1985;

(b) in relation to Scotland, means an islands or district council;

• “public-sector landlord”, in relation to Scotland, means—

(a) a local authority;

(b) a joint board or joint committee within the meaning of the M7 Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973;

(c) any trust under the control of any body mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) above;

(d) a development corporation established by an order made, or having effect as if made, under section 2 of the M8 New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968;

(e) the Scottish Special Housing Association;

• “statutory tenancy”—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in the M9 Housing Act 1985;

(b) in relation to Scotland, has the same meaning as in the M10 Rent (Scotland) Act 1984.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 24(5)(b) repealed by Housing Act 1988 (c. 50, SIF 61), s. 140(2), Sch. 18

Marginal Citations

M1 1985 c. 68.

M2 1987 c. 26.

M3 1985 c. 69.

M4 1985 c. 68.

M5 1985 c. 70.

M6 1984 c. 58.

M7 1973 c. 65.

M8 1968 c. 16.

M9 1985 c. 68.

M10 1984 c. 58.