The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1986

Prospective

Interpretation of Part II N.I.

3.—(1) In this Part—

• “associated arrangement” has the meaning given in Article 7(6);

• “cut-off date” is to be construed in accordance with Article 4(2) (b);

• “defective dwelling” is to be construed in accordance with Article 4(2);

• “designation” means a designation under Article 4;

• “housing association” means a housing association registered under Chapter II of Part VII of the Order of 1981, but does not include any such association whose rules—

  (a)

  restrict membership to persons who are tenants or prospective tenants of the association, and

  (b)

  preclude the granting or assignment of tenancies to persons other than members;

• “lending institution” means any building society (as defined in Article 3(4) of the Order of 1983) and any of the bodies specified in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of Schedule 10 to the Order of 1981;

• “person entitled to assistance by way of reinstatement grant” and “person entitled to assistance by way of repurchase” are to be construed in accordance with Article 7(5);

• “qualifying defect” is to be construed in accordance with Article 4(2)(a);

• “relevant interest” has the meaning given in Article 5(7)(a); and

• “work required to reinstate a defective dwelling” is to be construed in accordance with Article 6(7).

(2) In this Part “relevant body” means—

(a) the Executive or a body which was its statutory predecessor,

(b) a housing association,

(c) a body specified under paragraph (3).

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), the Department may by order—

(a) if the Department is satisfied that a body corporate meets the requirements of paragraph (5), specify that body as one that is to be treated as a relevant body, and

(b) whether or not the Department specifies it under sub-paragraph (a), if the Department is satisfied that a body corporate met those requirements during any period, specify it as a body that is to be treated as having been a relevant body during that period.

(4) An order under paragraph (3) may, in the case of a body previously specified under sub-paragraph (a) of that paragraph which the Department is satisfied has ceased to meet those requirements on any date, provide that it is to be treated for the purposes of this Part as having ceased to be a relevant body on that date.

(5) The requirements mentioned in paragraph (3) are that—

(a) the affairs of the body are managed by its members and its members hold office as such by virtue of their appointment to that or another office by the head of a Northern Ireland department under any enactment, or

(b) the body is a subsidiary (within the meaning of the [1960 c. 22 (N.I.)] Companies Act (Northern Ireland) 1960) of such a body.

(6) References in this Part to a disposal of an interest in a dwelling by a relevant body include a reference to a disposal of such an interest by a government department.

(7) In this Part (except Article 11 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 2) “dwelling” means any house, flat or other unit designed or adapted for living in; and for the purposes of this Part a building so designed or adapted is a house if it is a structure reasonably so called, so that—

(a) where a building is divided into units so designed or adapted and either it is so divided horizontally or a material part of any unit lies above or below any other unit, those units are not houses (though the building as a whole may be); and

(b) where a building is divided vertically into units so designed or adapted, those units may be houses.

(8) In any case where—

(a) a house which is divided into flats or other units is a defective dwelling, and

(b) a person is eligible for assistance in respect of that dwelling,

the fact that it is so divided is to be disregarded for the purposes of Article 6(4)(a).

(9) Subject to paragraph (10), where any interest in land is disposed of under a contract, the time at which the disposal is made is, for the purposes of this Part, the time the contract is made (and not, if different, the time at which the interest is conveyed).

(10) If the contract is conditional (and in particular if it is conditional on the exercise of an option) the time at which the disposal is made for those purposes is the time when the condition is satisfied.