Housing Associations Act 1985

IntroductoryE+W+S

1 Meaning of “housing association” and related expressions.E+W+S

(1)In this Act “housing association” means a society, body of trustees or company—

(a)which is established for the purpose of, or amongst whose objects or powers are included those of, providing, constructing, improving or managing, or facilitating or encouraging the construction or improvement of, housing accommodation, and

(b)which does not trade for profit or whose constitution or rules prohibit the issue of capital with interest or dividend exceeding such rate as may be prescribed by the Treasury, whether with or without differentiation as between share and loan capital [F1;

F2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

(2)In this Act “fully mutual”, in relation to a housing association, means that the rules of the association—

(a)restrict membership to persons who are tenants or prospective tenants of the association, and

(b)preclude the granting or assignment of tenancies to persons other than members;

and “co-operative housing association” means a fully mutual housing association which is a [F3registered society within the meaning of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014] [F4(in this part referred to as “the 1965 Act”)].

(3)In this Act “self-build society” means a housing association whose object is to provide, for sale to, or occupation by, its members, dwellings built or improved principally with the use of its members’ own labour.

2 Meaning of “housing trust”.E+W+S

In this Act “housing trust” means a corporation or body of persons which—

(a)is required by the terms of its constituent instrument to use the whole of its funds, including any surplus which may arise from its operations, for the purpose of providing housing accommodation, or

(b)is required by the terms of its constituent instrument to devote the whole, or substantially the whole, of its funds to charitable purposes and in fact uses the whole, or substantially the whole, of its funds for the purpose of providing housing accommodation.

F52A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

[F62B Meaning of “registered housing association”, “registered social landlord” etc.E+W+S

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “registered housing association” means a housing association registered in the register [F7of social landlords maintained under [F8section 20(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 17)]],

• [F9“registered social landlord” has the same meaning as in Part I of the Housing Act 1996, and]

• [F10“unregistered”, in relation to a housing association, means [F11not] registered in the register of social landlords maintained under [F12section 20(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 17)].]

• [F10“unregistered”, in relation to a housing association, means—

  (a)

  not registered as a provider of social housing under Part 2 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008,

  (b)

  not registered as a social landlord under Part 1 of the Housing Act 1996, and

  (c)

  not registered as a social landlord under [F13Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 17)].]]