The Housing (Preservation of Right to Buy) Regulations 1989

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations modify Part V (the right to buy) of the Housing Act 1985 in its application to a case where an authority which is the landlord of a dwelling-house occupied by a “secure tenant” for the purposes of Part IV of the Act disposes of the dwelling in circumstances under which the tenant’s right to buy the dwelling is preserved by section 171A.

The modifications are, in the main, consequential changes of terminology, omission of irrelevant material and the inclusion of relevant material from current subordinate legislation.

There are three principal changes of substances–

(a) there will not be a right to a mortgage (sections 132 to 135 of the Act);

(b) there will not be a right to claim a shared ownership lease (sections 143 to 153 of the Act); and

(c) the preserved right to buy will be exercisable against certain housing associations (broadly, charities and ones which have not received Government or local authority grants) which are excepted from the “mainstream” right to buy.

The Local Government Reorganisation (Preservation of Right to Buy) Order 1986 (S.I. 1986/2092) will continue to apply in relation to disposals of dwelling-houses by the bodies and authorities to which it applies which have taken place before these Regulations come into force. Future such disposals will fall within the terms of these Regulations.