Housing Act 1985

Supplementary provisionsE+W

176 Notices.E+W

(1)The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe the form of any notice under this Part and the particulars to be contained in the notice.

(2)Where the form of, and the particulars to be contained in, a notice under this Part are so prescribed, a tenant who proposes to claim, or has claimed, to exercise the right to buy may request the landlord to supply him with a form for use in giving such notice; and the landlord shall do so within seven days of the request.

(3)A notice under this Part may be served by sending it by post.

(4)Where the landlord is a housing association, 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 association or the office of the association with which the tenant usually deals.

(5)Regulations under this section—

(a)may make different provision with respect to different cases or descriptions of case, including different provision for different areas, and

(b)shall be made by statutory instrument.

177 Errors and omissions in notices.E+W

(1)A notice served by a tenant under this Part is not invalidated by an error in, or omission from, the particulars which are required by regulations under section 176 to be contained in the notice.

(2)Where as a result of such an error or omission—

(a)the landlord has mistakenly admitted or denied the right to buy or the [F1right to acquire on rent to mortgage terms] in a notice under section 124 or 146, or

(b)the landlord F2. . .has formed a mistaken opinion as to any matter required to be stated in a notice by any of the provisions mentioned in sub-section (3) and has stated that opinion in the notice,

the parties shall, as soon as practicable after they become aware of the mistake, 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 propose of securing that all parties are, as nearly as may be, in the same position as they would have been if the mistake had not been made.

(3)The provisions referred to in subsection (2)(b) are—

• section 125 (notice of purchase price, etc.),

• F3. . .

• [F4section 146 (landlord’s notice admitting or denying right to acquire on rent to mortgage terms).]

• F3. . .

(4)Subsection (2) does not apply where the tenant has exercised the right to which the notice relates before the parties become aware of the mistake.

[F5178 Costs.E+W

An agreement between the landlord and a tenant claiming to exercise—

(a)the right to buy,

(b)the right to acquire on rent to mortgage terms, or

(c)any such right as is mentioned in paragraph 2(1) or 6(1) of Schedule 6A (redemption of landlord’s share: right to make final or interim payment),

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 Provisions restricting right to buy, etc. of no effect.E+W

(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 buy or the [F6right to acquire on rent to mortgage terms], 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.

(2)Where a dwelling-house let on a secure tenancy is land held—

(a)for the purposes of section 164 of the M1Public Health Act 1875 (pleasure grounds),or

(b)in accordance with section 10 of the M2Open Spaces Act 1906 (duty of local authority to maintain open spaces and burial grounds),

then, for the purposes of this Part, the dwelling-house shall be deemed to be freed from any trust arising solely by virtue of its being land held in trust for enjoyment by the public in accordance with section 164 or, as the case may be, section 10.

180 Statutory declarations.E+W

A landlord, F7. . .or the Secretary of State may, if the landlord, F7. . . or Secretary of State thinks fit, accept a statutory declaration made for the purposes of this Part as sufficient evidence of the matters declared in it.

181Jurisdiction of county court.E+W

(1)[F8The county court ]has jurisdiction—

(a)to entertain any proceedings brought under this Part, and

(b)to determine any question arising under this Part or under [F9a conveyance or grant executed in pursuance of the right to acquire on rent to mortgage terms];

but subject to sections 128 [F10, 128B][F11, 155C and 158]F12. . .(which provide 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)F13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5)F13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

182 Power to repeal or amend local Acts.E+W

(1)The Secretary of State may by order repeal or amend a provision of a local Act passed before 8th August 1980 where it appears to him that the provision is inconsistent with a provision of this Part relating to the right to buy F14. . ..

(2)Before making an order under this section the Secretary of State shall consult any local housing authority appearing to him to be concerned.

(3)An order made under this section may contain such transitional, incidental or supplementary provisions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(4)An order under this section—

(a)may make different provision with respect to different cases or descriptions of case, including different provision for different areas, and

(b)shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

183 Meaning of “house”, “flat” and “dwelling-house”.E+W

(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 its 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 Land let with or used for purposes of dwelling-house.E+W

(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 M3General 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 a written notice served on the landlord at any time before he exercises the right to buy or the [F15right to acquire on rent to mortgage terms], 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 buy or the [F15right to acquire on rent to mortgage terms].

(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 Meaning of “secure tenancy” and “secure tenant”.E+W

(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 M4Housing Act 1980 and Part I of the M5Housing and Building Control Act 1984 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 [F16a [F17private registered provider of social housing or]registered social landlord] at any later time.

186 Members of a person’s family.E+W

(1)A person is a member of another’s family within the meaning of this Part if—

(a)he is the spouse [F18or civil partner] of that person, or he and that person live together [F19as if they were a married couple or] [F20civil partners], 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 [F21or civil partnership] 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 as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father.

187 Minor definitions.E+W

In this Part—

• “improvement” means [F22, in relation to a dwelling house,] any alteration in, or addition to, [F23the dwelling-house] and includes—

  (a)

  any addition to, or alteration in, landlord’s fixtures and fittings and any addition or alteration connected with the provision of services to [F23the dwelling-house],

  (b)

  the erection of a wireless or television aerial, and

  (c)

  the carrying out of external decoration;

• [F24and shall be similarly construed in relation to any other building or land;]

• [F25 “ 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 (obligations to repair, reinstate, etc. ); ]

• “long tenancy” means—

  (a)

  a long tenancy within the meaning of part IV,

  (b)

  [F26 a tenancy falling within paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the M6 Tenants’ Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980, or ]

  (c)

  a tenancy falling within paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the M7Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1983;

  and “long lease” shall be construed accordingly;

• F27. . .

188 Index of defined expressions: Part VE+W

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):—