PART III RIGHTS OF PUBLIC SECTOR TENANTS
Right to buy
C161 Secure tenant’s right to purchase
1
Notwithstanding anything contained in any agreement, a tenant of a house to which this section applies (or such one or more of joint tenants as may be agreed between them) shall, subject to this Part, have the right to purchase the house at a price fixed under section 62.
2
This section applies to every house let under a secure tenancy where—
a
the landlord is either—
F1i
a local authority, or a joint board or joint committee of two or more local authorities, or the common good of a local authority or any trust under the control of a local authority; or
iia
a water authority or sewerage authority;
iii
a development corporation (including an urban development corporation); or
F2iv
Scottish Homes
v
the Housing Corporation; or
vi
a registered housing association; or
vii
a housing co-operative; or
viii
a police authority in Scotland; or
ix
a fire authority in Scotland; and
b
the landlord is the heritable proprietor of the house or, in the case of a landlord who is a housing co-operative, a body mentioned in paragraph (a)(i) is the heritable proprietor; and
c
immediately prior to the date of service of an application to purchase, the tenant has been for not less than 2 years in occupation of a house (including accommodation provided as mentioned in subsection (11)(n)) or of a succession of houses provided by any persons mentioned in subsection (11).
F32A
For the purposes of subsection (2)(c), where the house was provided by a housing association which, at any time while the house was so provided, was not a registered housing association, the association shall, if it became a registered housing association at any later time, be deemed to have been a registered housing association at all times since it first provided the house.
3
This section also applies to a house let under a secure tenancy granted in pursuance of section F4282(2) or (3) (grant of secure tenancy on acquisition of defective dwelling), if the tenant would not otherwise have the right to purchase under this Part; and where it so applies—
a
paragraph (c) of subsection (2) shall not have effect;
b
the words “beyond 2” in section 62(3)(b) shall not have effect.
4
This section does not apply—
a
to a house that is one of a group which has been provided with facilities (including a call system and the services of a warden) specially designed or adapted for the needs of persons of pensionable age or disabled persons; or
b
where a landlord which is a registered housing association has at no time received a grant under—
i
ii
section 31 of the Housing Act 1974 (management grants);
iii
section 41 of the Housing Associations Act 1985 (housing association grants);
iv
section 54 of that Act (revenue deficit grants);
v
section 55 of that Act (hostel deficit grants); F5or
vi
section 59(2) of that Act (grants by local authorities); F5or
F6vii
section 50 of the Housing Act 1988 (housing association grants); or
viii
section 51 of that Act (revenue deficit grants); or
c
where such a landlord has at no time let (or had available for letting) more than 100 dwellings; or
d
where such a landlord is a charity—
i
entered in the register of charities maintained under the M3Charities Act 1960 by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales; or
ii
which but for section 4(4) of, and paragraph (g) of the Second Schedule to, that Act (exempt charities) would require to be so entered; or
e
where by virtue of section 49(2) of the said Act of 1960 (extent) such a landlord is not one to which Part II of that Act (registration of charities, etc.) applies, but—
i
the landlord has, in respect of all periods from 14th November 1985 or from the date of first being registered by the Housing Corporation F7or by Scottish Homes (whichever is the later) claimed and been granted (whether or not retrospectively), under section 360(1) of the M4Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 (special exemptions for charities), exemption from tax; and
ii
where such exemption has not been claimed and granted in respect of all periods from the said date of registration, the rules of the landlord, registered under the M5Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 and in force at that date, were such as would have admitted of such exemption had it been claimed as at that date; or
f
where, within a neighbourhood, the house is one of a number (not exceeding 14) of houses with a common landlord, being a F8landlord which is a registered housing association, and it is the practice of that landlord to let at least one half of those houses for occupation by any or all of the following—
i
persons who have suffered from, or are suffering from, mental disorder (as defined in the M6Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984), physical handicap or addiction to alcohol or other drugs;
ii
persons who have been released from prison or other institutions;
iii
young persons who F9as children have been looked after by a local authority,
and a social service is, or special facilities are, provided wholly or partly for the purpose of assisting those persons.
F104A
The reference in subsection (4)(f)(iii) above to children looked after by a local authority shall be construed in accordance with section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.
5
Where the spouse of a tenant or, where there is a joint tenancy, the spouse of a joint tenant, occupies the house as his only or principal home but is not himself a joint tenant, the right to purchase the house under subsection (1) shall not be exercised without the consent of such spouse.
6
A tenant may exercise his right to purchase, if he so wishes, together with one or more members of his family acting as joint purchasers, provided—
a
that such members are at least 18 years of age, that they have, during the period of 6 months ending with the date of service of the application to purchase, had their only or principal home with the tenant and that their residence in the house is not a breach of any obligation of the tenancy; or
b
where the requirements of paragraph (a) are not satisfied, the landlord has consented.
7
The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument amend, or add to, the descriptions of persons set out in sub-paragraphs (i) to (iii) of paragraph (f) of subsection (4).
8
The Commissioners of Inland Revenue shall, as regards any registered housing association, at the request of the Secretary of State, provide him F11, the Housing Corporation and Scottish Homes with such information as will enable them to determine whether that association is a landlord in respect of which this section will not, by virtue of subsection (4)(d), apply; and where a registered housing association is refused exemption on a claim under section 360(1) of the M7Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 the Commissioners shall forthwith inform the Secretary of State F11, the Housing Corporation and Scottish Homes of that fact.
9
Where information has been received by the Housing Corporation F12or by Scottish Homes under subsection (8) and having regard to that information the Corporation F13or, as the case may be, Scottish Homes is satisfied that the housing association to which it relates is not a landlord in respect of which this section applies, they shall make an entry to that effect in the register of housing associations maintained by them under section 3(1) F14or, as the case may be, 3(1A) of the M8Housing Associations Act 1985; and they shall cancel that entry where subsequent information so received in relation to that housing association is inconsistent with their being so satisfied.
10
In this section and the following section—
a
references to occupation of a house include occupation—
i
in the case of joint tenants, by any one of them;
ii
by any person occupying the house rent-free;
iii
as the spouse of the tenant, joint tenant or of any such person;
iv
as the child, or the spouse of a child, of a tenant or a person occupying the house rent free who has succeeded, directly or indirectly, to the rights of that person in a house occupation of which would be reckonable for the purposes of this section; but only in relation to any period when the child, or as the case may be spouse of the child, is at least 16 years of age; or
v
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F15, as a member of the family of a tenant or a person occupying the house rent free who, not being that person’s spouse or child (or child’s spouse), has succeeded, directly or indirectly, to such rights as are mentioned in paragraph (iv); but only in relation to any period when the member of the family is at least 16 years of age.
b
for the purpose of determining the period of occupation—
F16i
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F16ii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F17iii
there shall be added to the period of occupation of a house by a joint tenant any earlier period during which he was at least 16 years of age and occupied the house as a member of the family of the tenant or of one or more of the joint tenants of the house.
11
The persons providing houses reffered to in subsection (2)(c) (occupation requirement for excercise of right to purchase) and in section 62(3)(b) (calculation of the discount from the market value) are—
a
b
the Commission for the New Towns;
c
a development corporation, an urban development corporation; and any development corporation established under corresponding legislation in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland; and the statutory predecessors of any such authority;
F20d
Scottish Homes and the Scottish Special Housing Association;
e
a registered housing association;
f
the Housing Corporation;
g
a housing co-operative within the meaning of section 22 or a housing co-operative within the meaning of section 27B of the M9Housing Act 1985;
h
the Development Board for Rural Wales;
i
the Northern Ireland Housing Executive or any statutory predecessor;
j
a police authority or the statutory predecessors of any such authority;
k
a fire authority or the statutory predecessors of any such authority;
l
a water authority F21or sewerage authority in Scotland; any water authority constituted under corresponding legislation in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland; and the statutory predecessors of any such authority;
m
the Secretary of State, where the house was at the material time used for the purposes of the Scottish Prison Service or of a prison service for which the Home Office or the Northern Ireland Office have responsibility;
n
the Crown, in relation to accommodation provided in connection with service whether by the tenant or his spouse as a member of the regular armed forces of the Crown;
o
the Secretary of State, where the house was at the material time used for the purposes of a health board constituted under section 2 of the M10National Health Services (Scotland) Act 1978 or for the purposes of a corresponding board in England and Wales, or for the purposes of the statutory predecessors of any such board; or the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland, where the house was at the material time used for the purposes of a Health and Personal Services Board in Northern Ireland, or for the purposes of the statutory predecessors of any such board;
p
the Secretary of State, or the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, where the house was at the material time used for the purposes of the Forestry Commission;
q
the Secretary of State, where the house was at the material time used for the purposes of a State Hospital provided by him under section 90 of the M11Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 or for the purposes of any hospital provided under corresponding legislation in England and Wales;
r
the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses;
s
the Trinity House;
t
the Secretary of State, where the house was at the material time used for the purposes of Her Majesty’s Coastguard;
u
the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority;
v
the Secretary of State, where the house was at the material time used for the purposes of any function transferred to him under section 1(2) of the M12Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act 1964 or any function relating to defence conferred on him by or under any subsequent enactment;
w
such other person as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament prescribe.