Amendment to regulation 10 of the 2003 Regulations
5.—(1) In regulation 10 (pooling of receipts from disposals of housing land) of the 2003 Regulations—
(a)in paragraph (1) after “revenue account” insert—
“or a housing revenue account which is debt free for HRA subsidy purposes”;
(b)in paragraph (1) after “qualifying disposal” insert—
“or a small scale disposal”;
(c)after paragraph (2) insert—
“(2A) for the purposes of paragraph (1) “a housing revenue account which is debt free for HRA subsidy purposes” means a housing revenue account where the opening HRA subsidy capital financing requirement as defined in accordance with Regulation 22(2) is nil or negative”.
(d)delete paragraph (9) and insert—
“(9) (a) Subject to paragraph (9)(d) for the purposes of paragraph (4)(b) a disposal means a disposal of—
(i)an interest in land where the land is held for the purposes of Part II of the Housing Act 1985 (provision of housing accommodation) and if there is a building situated on the land, the building does not, in the whole or in part, comprise a dwelling; or
(ii)an interest in a dwelling where the dwelling was normally let, or available for letting, for the purposes of Part II of the Housing Act 1985 (provision of housing accommodation) and the authority make the disposal by granting a shared ownership lease (within the meaning given to that expression in section 622 of the Housing Act 1985), or on condition that the purchaser, for the purpose of repairing or improving the dwelling, will carry out significant works within a specified period; or
(iii)an interest in a lease, other than a shared ownership lease, where the authority estimate that not less than 90 percent of the capital value of the lease has been, or is to be, received by them within one year after the date of disposal.
(b)Paragraph (9)(a) (iii) is only applicable to paragraph (4)(b) where the authority make the disposal by—
(i)conveying the freehold interest in the dwelling;
(ii)granting a lease for a term of not less than 125 years;
(iii)granting a shared ownership lease; or
(iv)assigning their leasehold interest in the dwelling; and
for the purposes of this paragraph a “shared ownership lease” means a lease of a dwelling granted on payment of a premium which is calculated by reference to a percentage of the value of the dwelling or the cost of providing it, and is not less than 25 percent of that value or cost.
(c)Paragraph (9)(a)(iii) shall not apply to a disposal (“the current disposal”) of an interest in a dwelling which has at any time been occupied under a relevant lease granted by the authority, unless—
(i)since the last date on which the dwelling was so occupied, the authority has disposed of an interest in it under Part V of the Housing Act 1985 (the right to buy), or chapter 1 of Part I of the Housing Act 1980 (the right to buy), or with a relevant consent, to a person who, when that person acquired that interest, occupied, or intended to occupy, the dwelling as that person’s only or principal home;
(ii)that disposal was made more than five years before the current disposal;
(iii)at any time within that period the authority acquired a further interest in the dwelling; and
(iv)the dwelling is a house within the meaning which that expression has in section 44 of the Housing Act 1985.
(d)In paragraph (9)(c)—
“relevant consent” means a consent to a disposal of land given by the Secretary of State to local authorities generally under section 32 or 43 of the Housing Act 1985, section 22 of the Housing and Building Control Act 1984 or section 104 of the Housing Act 1957;
“relevant lease” means—
a secure tenancy within the meaning which that expression has in Part IV of the Housing Act 1985 (secure tenancies and rights of secure tenants);
an introductory tenancy within the meaning which that expression has in Chapter 1 of Part V of the Housing Act 1996; or
any other lease, other than a shared ownership lease within the meaning given to it in paragraph (9)(b).”.