45.—(1) In deciding whether to make a charging order, the court shall consider all the circumstances of the case, and in particular any evidence before it as to–
(a)the personal circumstances of the debtor, and
(b)whether any other person would be likely to be unduly prejudiced by the making of the order.
(2) A charging order–
(a)shall specify the designated dwelling concerned and the interest held by the debtor beneficially in it, and
(b)may, as the court thinks fit, be made absolutely or subject to conditions as to the time when the charge is to become enforceable or as to other matters.
(3) A charge imposed by a charging order shall have the like effect and shall be enforceable in the same courts and in the same manner as an equitable charge created by the debtor by writing under his hand.
(4) The court by which a charging order was made may at any time, on the application of the debtor, the authority on whose application the order was made or any person interested in the designated dwelling, make an order discharging or varying the charging order.
(5) The Land Charges Act 1972(1) and Land Registration Act 1925(2) shall apply in relation to charging orders as they apply in relation to orders or writs issued or made for the purposes of enforcing judgments; and in section 49(1)(g) of the Land Registration Act 1925, after the words “Criminal Justice Act 1988” there are inserted the words “, or regulations under paragraph 11 of Schedule 4 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988”.
(6) Where a charging order has been protected by an entry registered under the Land Charges Act 1972 or the Land Registration Act 1925, an order under paragraph (4) discharging the charging order may direct that the entry be cancelled.
1972 c. 61; section 6 of the Act was amended by the Supreme Court Act 1981 (c. 54), Schedule 5, and the County Courts Act 1984 (c. 28), Schedule 2, paragraph 18.
1925 c. 21; section 49(1)(g) was inserted by the Charging Orders Act 1979 (c. 53), section 3(3), and amended by the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 (c. 32), section 39(2) and the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (c. 33), Schedule 15, paragraph 6.