The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1986

Forms of assistanceN.I.

Reinstatement grantN.I.

8.—(1) Where a person is entitled to assistance by way of reinstatement grant in respect of a defective dwelling, the Executive shall, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Article and Schedule 1, pay reinstatement grant to him in respect of the qualifying work and in respect of any associated arrangement.

(2) In this Article and that Schedule “qualifying work”, in relation to a defective dwelling, means the work stated in a notice under Article 7(2) or paragraph 3 of that Schedule to be, in the opinion of the Executive, the work which is required to reinstate the dwelling.

(3) It shall be a condition of payment of the grant that the qualifying work is carried out to the satisfaction of the Executive within the period specified in the notice under Article 7(2) or within that period as extended; but payment of the grant shall not be subject to any other condition, however expressed.

(4) The period so specified shall be such reasonable period (not being less than 12 months) beginning with the service of the notice as the Executive may determine.

(5) The Executive shall, if there are reasonable grounds for doing so, by notice in writing served on the person entitled to assistance extend, or further extend, the period for carrying out that work (whether or not that period has expired).

(6) Part II of Schedule 1 has effect to require the repayment of grant in certain circumstances.

RepurchaseN.I.

9.—(1) A person who is entitled to assistance by way of repurchase in respect of a defective dwelling may, within the period of 3 months beginning with the service of the Executive's notice under Article 7(2) (or within that period as extended) request the Executive in writing to notify him of the proposed terms and conditions for its acquisition of his interest so far as subsisting in the defective dwelling and any garage, outhouse, garden, yard and appurtenances occupied and used for the purposes of the dwelling or any part of it (in this paragraph referred to as the “interest to be acquired”).

(2) The Executive shall, within the period of 3 months beginning with the making of a request under paragraph (1), serve on the person so entitled a notice in writing specifying the proposed terms and conditions and stating—

(a)its opinion as to the value of the interest to be acquired, and

(b)the effect of paragraphs (3) to (5) and (6) (except sub-paragraph (a)).

(3) Subject to the following provisions of this Part, any agreement for the acquisition by the Executive of the interest to be acquired shall contain such provisions as the parties have agreed or, in default of agreement, as have been determined in accordance with this Part to be reasonable.

(4) The Executive shall, within 3 months of all the provisions to be included in the agreement being agreed or determined, draw up an agreement for execution by the parties embodying those provisions and serve a copy of the agreement on the person so entitled.

(5) The person so entitled may, at any time within the period of 6 months beginning with the service of the copy of that agreement (or within that period as extended), notify the Executive in writing that he requires it to enter into an agreement embodying those provisions and the Executive shall comply with the requirement.

(6) The Executive shall, if there are reasonable grounds for doing so, by notice in writing served on the person so entitled, extend (or further extend)—

(a)the period within which under paragraph (1) he may make a request under that paragraph; and

(b)the period within which under paragraph (5) he may notify it of his requirement;

whether or not the period in question has expired.

(7) Schedule 2 has effect to supplement the provisions of this Article.

Purchase of certain land by authority possessing powers of compulsory acquisitionN.I.

10.—(1) In any case where—

(a)there was a disposal of an interest in a defective dwelling, being an interest held by a person (in this Article referred to as “the owner”) who immediately before the time of disposal was eligible for assistance in respect of the dwelling,

(b)the disposal was made to an authority possessing compulsory acquisition powers, otherwise than in pursuance of Article 9,

(c)on the disposal, the authority acquired an interest in any affected land, that is to say, the defective dwelling and any garage, outhouse, garden, yard and appurtenances occupied with and used for the purposes of the dwelling or any part of it, and

(d)the amount paid in consideration of the disposal did not include any amount attributable to the owner's right to apply for assistance in respect of the dwelling,

the owner is entitled, subject to the following provisions of this Article, to be paid by the Executive the amount (if any) by which ninety-five per cent of the defect-free value exceeds the amount of compensation for the disposal.

(2) For the purposes of this Article, the amount of compensation for the disposal is—

(a)the amount that would have been the proper amount of compensation for the disposal (having regard, where any relevant determination has been made by the Lands Tribunal, to that determination), or

(b)if greater, the amount paid as the consideration for the disposal,

but excluding any amount payable for disturbance or any other matter not directly based on the value of the land.

(3) In this Article “defect-free value” means the amount that would have been the proper amount of compensation for the disposal (excluding any amount so payable) if none of the defective dwellings to which the designation in question related had been affected by the qualifying defect.

(4) For the purposes of this Article—

(a)it is to be assumed that the disposal occurred on a compulsory acquisition (in cases where it did not in fact do so),

(b)where the compensation for the disposal fell to be assessed by reference to the value of the land as a site cleared of buildings and available for development then, for the purpose of determining the defect-free value, it is to be assumed that the compensation did not fall to be so assessed, and

(c)any amount which, apart from this sub-paragraph, would be payable by the Executive under paragraph (1) shall be reduced by the amount of any payment made in respect of the defective dwelling under Article 93 of the Order of 1981.

(5) The Executive is not required to make a payment to any person under this Article unless he makes a written application to it for the payment before the end of the period of two years beginning with the time of disposal.

(6) Where the Executive refuses an application for a payment under this Article on the grounds that the owner was not eligible for assistance in respect of the defective dwelling at the time of the disposal, it shall give to the applicant a notice in writing stating the reasons for its view.

(7) Any question arising under this Article as to the amount of compensation for a disposal or defect-free value shall be determined by the district valuer if the owner or the Executive so requires by notice in writing served on the district valuer.

(8) Before making a determination in pursuance of paragraph (7), the district valuer shall consider any representations by the owner or the Executive made to him within four weeks from the service of the notice under that paragraph.

(9) A person serving a notice on the district valuer under paragraph (7) shall serve notice in writing of that fact on the Executive or, as the case may be, the owner.

(10) In this Article—

• “authority possessing compulsory acquisition powers” means a person with power to acquire an interest in land otherwise than by agreement;

• “district valuer” has the meaning given in Article 2(2) of the [1977 NI 28] Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977.

(11) In this Article references to the owner include a reference to his personal representatives.

Secure tenanciesN.I.

11.—(1) This Article applies where the Executive acquires an interest in a defective dwelling in pursuance of Article 9 and the land in which the interest subsists is or includes a dwelling-house occupied as a separate dwelling (in this Article referred to as a “relevant dwelling-house”).

(2) Where an individual is an occupier of a relevant dwelling-house throughout the qualifying period and either—

(a)he is a person entitled to assistance by way of repurchase in respect of the defective dwelling, or

(b)the persons so entitled are, in relation to the interest concerned, his trustees,

the Executive shall, subject to the following provisions of this Article, grant him a secure tenancy on completion of its acquisition of the interest concerned.

(3) Where an individual—

(a)is at the end of the qualifying period a tenant of a relevant dwelling-house under a periodic tenancy, and

(b)has been an occupier of the dwelling-house throughout the qualifying period,

the Executive shall, subject to the following provisions of this Article, grant him a secure tenancy on completion of its acquisition of the interest concerned.

(4) If two or more persons qualify under paragraph (2) or (3) for the grant of a secure tenancy in respect of the same relevant dwelling-house, the Executive shall, subject to the following provisions of this Article, grant the tenancy to such one or more of them as they may agree among themselves or (if there is no such agreement) to all of them.

(5) The dwelling-house let under the secure tenancy to be granted to any person under this Article shall—

(a)if the circumstances do not fall within paragraph 2 of Schedule 3, be the dwelling-house of which he is the occupier at the end of the qualifying period;

(b)if the circumstances do fall within paragraph 2 of that Schedule, be another dwelling-house which, so far as is reasonably practicable, affords accommodation which meets the requirements of suitability set out in paragraph 3 of that Schedule.

(6) The Executive shall not be required to grant to any person a secure tenancy under this Article unless that person requests it to do so in writing before the service on the person entitled to assistance of a copy of the agreement drawn up under Article 9(4) or paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 2.

(7) On receiving a request under paragraph (6), the Executive shall, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, give notice in writing to the person making the request stating—

(a)whether or not in its opinion the circumstances of his case fall within paragraph 2 of Schedule 3, and

(b)if its opinion is that they do—

(i)which of the Cases specified in that paragraph is applicable to those circumstances, and

(ii)the effect of paragraph (5) and Schedule 3.

(8) If at any time after the service of a notice under Article 7(2) it appears to the Executive that a person may be entitled to request it to grant him a tenancy under paragraph (3), it shall forthwith give him notice in writing of that fact.

(9) In this Article—

• “dwelling-house” has the same meaning as in Chapter II of Part II of the Order of 1983;

• “occupier”, in relation to a dwelling-house, means a person who occupies the dwelling-house as his only or principal home;

• “qualifying period” means the period beginning with the making of an application under Article 6 in respect of the defective dwelling and ending immediately before completion of the Executive's acquisition;

• “relevant dwelling-house” has the meaning given in paragraph (1);

• “secure tenancy” has the same meaning as in Chapter II of Part II of the Order of 1983;

• and references to the grant of a secure tenancy are references to the grant of a tenancy which would be a secure tenancy assuming that the tenant under the tenancy occupies the dwelling-house concerned as his only or principal home.

Expenses incidental to applications for assistanceN.I.

12.—(1) A person whose interest in a defective dwelling is acquired by the Executive in pursuance of Article 9 is entitled to be reimbursed by the Executive the proper amount of—

(a)any expenses in respect of legal services provided in connection with the Executive's acquisition, and

(b)any other expenses in connection with negotiating the terms of that acquisition,

being in each case expenses which are reasonably incurred by him after receipt of a notice under Article 9(2).

(2) Any agreement between any person and the Executive shall be void in so far as it purports to oblige him to bear any part of the costs or expenses incurred by the Executive in connection with the exercise by him of his rights under this Part.