Timeshare Act 1992

1 Application of Act

(1) In this Act—

(a) “timeshare accommodation” means any living accommodation, in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, used or intended to be used, wholly or partly, for leisure purposes by a class of persons (referred to below in this section as “timeshare users”) all of whom have rights to use, or participate in arrangements under which they may use, that accommodation, or accommodation within a pool of accommodation to which that accommodation belongs, for intermittent periods of short duration, and

(b) “timeshare rights” means rights by virtue of which a person becomes or will become a timeshare user, being rights exercisable during a period of not less than three years.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) above—

(a) “accommodation” means accommodation in a building or in a caravan (as defined in section 29(1) of the [1960 c. 62.] Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960), and

(b) a period of not more than one month, or such other period as may be prescribed, is a period of short duration.

(3) Subsection (1)(b) above does not apply to a person’s rights—

(a) as the owner of any shares or securities,

(b) under a contract of employment (as defined in section 153 of the [1978 c. 44.] Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978) or a policy of insurance, or

(c) by virtue of his taking part in a collective investment scheme (as defined in section 75 of the [1986 c. 60.] Financial Services Act 1986),

or to such rights as may be prescribed.

(4) In this Act “timeshare agreement” means, subject to subsection (6) below, an agreement under which timeshare rights are conferred or purport to be conferred on any person and in this Act, in relation to a timeshare agreement—

(a) references to the offeree are to the person on whom timeshare rights are conferred, or purport to be conferred, and

(b) references to the offeror are to the other party to the agreement,

and, in relation to any time before the agreement is entered into, references in this Act to the offeree or the offeror are to the persons who become the offeree and offeror when it is entered into.

(5) In this Act “timeshare credit agreement” means, subject to subsection (6) below, an agreement, not being a timeshare agreement—

(a) under which a person (referred to in this Act as the “creditor”) provides or agrees to provide credit for or in respect of a person who is the offeree under a timeshare agreement, and

(b) when the credit agreement is entered into, the creditor knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the whole or part of the credit is to be used for the purpose of financing the offeree’s entering into a timeshare agreement.

(6) An agreement is not a timeshare agreement or a timeshare credit agreement if, when entered into, it may be cancelled by virtue of section 67 of the [1974 c. 39.] Consumer Credit Act 1974.

(7) This Act applies to any timeshare agreement or timeshare credit agreement if—

(a) the agreement is to any extent governed by the law of the United Kingdom or of a part of the United Kingdom, or

(b) when the agreement is entered into, one or both of the parties are in the United Kingdom.

(8) In the application of this section to Northern Ireland—

(a) for the reference in subsection (2)(a) above to section 29(1) of the [1960 c. 62.] Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 there is substituted a reference to section 25(1) of the [1963. c. 17. (N.I.)] Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963, and

(b) for the reference in subsection (3)(b) above to section 153 of the [1978 c. 44.] Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 there is substituted a reference to article 2(2) of the [S.I. 1976/1043 (N.I. 16)] Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1976.