176.—(3) A notice under this Part may be served by sending it by post.
(4) A notice to be served by the tenant on the landlord under this Part may be served by leaving it at, or sending it to, the principal office of the landlord or the office of the landlord with which the tenant usually deals.
178. An agreement between the landlord and a tenant claiming to exercise the right to acquire is void in so far as it purports to oblige the tenant to bear any part of the costs incurred by the landlord in connection with the tenant’s exercise of that right.
179.—(1) A provision of a lease held by the landlord or a superior landlord, or of an agreement (whenever made), is void in so far as it purports to prohibit or restrict—
(a)the grant of a lease in pursuance of the right to acquire, or
(b)the subsequent disposal (whether by way of assignment, sub-lease or otherwise) of a lease so granted,
or to authorise a forfeiture, or impose on the landlord or superior landlord a penalty or disability, in the event of such a grant or disposal.
180. A landlord may, if the landlord thinks fit, accept a statutory declaration made for the purposes of this Part as sufficient evidence of the matters declared in it.
181.—(1) A county court has jurisdiction—
(a)to entertain any proceedings brought under this Part, and
(b)to determine any question arising under this Part;
but subject to section 128 (which provides for matters of valuation to be determined by the district valuer).
(2) The jurisdiction conferred by this section includes jurisdiction to entertain proceedings on any such question as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b) notwithstanding that no other relief is sought than a declaration.
(3) If a person takes proceedings in the High Court which, by virtue of this section, he could have taken in the county court, he is not entitled to recover any costs.
(4) The Lord Chancellor may make such rules and give such directions as he thinks fit for the purpose of giving effect to this section; and such rules or directions may provide—
(a)for the exercise by a registrar of a county court of any jurisdiction exercisable under this section, and
(b)for the conduct of proceedings in private.
(5) The power to make rules under this section is exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
183.—(1) The following provisions apply to the interpretation of “house”, “flat” and “dwelling-house” when used in this Part.
(2) A dwelling-house is a house if, and only if, it (or so much of it as does not consist of land included by virtue of section 184) is a structure reasonably so called; so that—
(a)where a building is divided horizontally, the flats or other units into which it is divided are not houses;
(b)where a building is divided vertically, the units into which it is divided may be houses;
(c)where a building is not structurally detached, it is not a house if a material part of it lies above or below the remainder of the structure.
(3) A dwelling-house which is not a house is a flat.
184.—(1) For the purpose of this Part land let together with a dwelling-house shall be treated as part of the dwelling-house, unless the land is agricultural land (within the meaning set out in section 26(3)(a) of the [1967 c. 9.] General Rate Act 1967) exceeding two acres.
(2) There shall be treated as included in a dwelling-house any land which is not within subsection (1) but is or has been used for the purpose of the dwelling-house if—
(a)the tenant, by written notice served on the landlord at any time before he exercises the right to acquire requires the land to be included in the dwelling-house, and
(b)it is reasonable in all the circumstances for the land to be so included.
(3) A notice under subsection (2) may be withdrawn by a written notice served on the landlord at any time before the tenant exercises the right to acquire.
(4) Where a notice under subsection (2) is served or withdrawn after the service of the notice under section 125 (landlord’s notice of purchase price, etc), the parties shall, as soon as practicable after the service or withdrawal, take all such steps (whether by way of amending, withdrawing or re-serving any notice or extending any period or otherwise) as may be requisite for the purpose of securing that all parties are, as nearly as may be, in the same position as they would have been in if the notice under subsection (2) had been served or withdrawn before the service of the notice under section 125.
185.—(1) References in this Part to a secure tenancy or a secure tenant in relation to a time before 26th August 1984 are to a tenancy which would have been a secure tenancy if Chapter II of Part I of the [1980 c. 51.] Housing Act 1980 and Part I of the [1984 c. 29.] Housing and Building Control Act 1984 and had then been in force or to a person who would then have been a secure tenant.
(2) For the purpose of determining whether a person would have been a secure tenant and his tenancy a secure tenancy—
(a)a predecessor of a local authority shall be deemed to have been such an authority, and
(b)a housing association shall be deemed to have been registered if it is or was a registered social landlord at any later time.
186.—(1) A person is a member of another’s family within the meaning of this Part if—
(a)he is the spouse of that person, or he and that person live together as husband and wife, or
(b)he is that person’s parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)—
(a)a relationship by marriage shall be treated as a relationship by blood,
(b)a relationship of the half-blood shall be treated as a relationship of the whole blood,
(c)the stepchild of a person shall be treated as his child, and
(d)an illegitimate child shall be treated as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father.
187. In this Part—
“improvement” means, in relation to a dwelling-house, any alteration in, or addition to, the dwelling-house and includes—
any addition to, or alteration in, landlord’s fixtures and fittings and any addition or alteration connected with the provision of services to the dwelling-house,
the erection of a wireless or television aerial, and
the carrying out of external decoration
and shall be similarly construed in relation to any other building or land;
“improvement contribution” means an amount payable by a tenant of a flat in respect of improvements to the flat, the building in which it is situated or any other building or land, other than works carried out in discharge of any such obligations as are referred to in paragraph 16A(1) of Schedule 6 (obligation to repair, reinstate, etc.);
“long tenancy” means—
a long tenancy within the meaning of Part IV,
, or
a tenancy falling within paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the [S.I. 1983/1118 (N.I. 15).] Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1983;
and “long lease” shall be construed accordingly;
188. The following Table shows provisions defining or otherwise explaining expressions used in this Part (other than provisions defining or explaining an expression used in the same section or paragraph):—
| bank | section 622 |
| building society | section 622 |
| cemetery | section 622 |
| charity | section 622 |
| compulsory disposal | section 161 |
| co-operative housing association | section 5(2) |
| the Corporation | section 6A |
| district valuer | section 622 |
| dwelling-house | sections 183 and 184 |
| exempted disposal | section 160 |
| family (member of) | section 186 |
| flat | section 183 |
| friendly society | section 622 |
| house | section 183 |
| housing association | section 5(1) |
| housing trust | section 6 |
| improvement | section 187 |
| improvement contribution | section 187 |
| incumbrances | paragraph 7 of Schedule 6 |
| insurance company | section 622 |
| lease | section 621 |
| local authority | section 4(e) |
| local housing authority | section 1, 2(2) |
| long tenancy (and long lease) | section 187 |
| new town corporation | section 4(b) |
| prescribed | section 614 |
| public sector tenancy (and public sector tenant) | paragraphs 6 to 10 of Schedule 4 |
| purchase price | section 126 |
| reference period (for purposes of s.125A or 125B) | section 125C |
| registered social landlord | section 5(4) and (5) |
| regular armed forces of the Crown | section 622 |
| relevant disposal | section 159 and see section 452(3) |
| relevant time | section 122(2) |
| right to acquire | section 118(1) |
| secure tenancy and secure tenant | sections 79 and 185 |
| service charge | section 621A |
| tenant’s incumbrance | paragraph 7 of Schedule 6 |
| trustee savings bank | section 622 |
| urban development corporation | section 4(d) |