Housing Act 1996

27 Recovery, &c. of social housing grants

(1) Where a registered social landlord has received a grant under section 18 (social housing grant), the following powers are exercisable in such events as the Corporation may from time to time determine.

(2) The Corporation may, acting in accordance with such principles as it has determined—

(a) reduce any grant payable by it, or suspend or cancel any instalment of any such grant, or

(b) direct the registered social landlord to apply or appropriate for such purposes as the Corporation may specify, or to pay to the Corporation, such amount as the Corporation may specify.

(3) A direction by the Corporation under subsection (2)(b) may require the application, appropriation or payment of an amount with interest.

(4) Any such direction shall specify—

(a) the rate or rates of interest (whether fixed or variable) which is or are applicable,

(b) the date from which interest is payable, and

(c) any provision for suspended or reduced interest which is applicable.

The date from which interest is payable must not be earlier than the date of the event giving rise to the exercise of the Corporation’s powers under this section.

(5) In subsection (4)(c)—

(a) provision for suspended interest means provision to the effect that if the principal amount is applied, appropriated or paid before a date specified in the direction, no interest will be payable for any period after the date of the direction; and

(b) provision for reduced interest means provision to the effect that if the principal amount is so applied, appropriated or paid, any interest payable will be payable at a rate or rates lower than the rate or rates which would otherwise be applicable.

(6) Where—

(a) a registered social landlord has received a payment in respect of a grant under section 18, and

(b) at any time property to which the grant relates becomes vested in, or is leased for a term of years to, or reverts to, some other registered social landlord,

this section (including this subsection) shall have effect in relation to periods after that time as if the grant, or such proportion of it as may be determined by the Corporation to be appropriate, had been made to that other registered social landlord.

(7) The matters specified in a direction under subsection (4)(a) to (c), and the proportion mentioned in subsection (6), shall be—

(a) such as the Corporation, acting in accordance with such principles as it may from time to time determine, may specify as being appropriate, or

(b) such as the Corporation may determine to be appropriate in the particular case.