Housing Act 2004

Commentary on Sections

Part 6

Section 221: Extension of the Right to Acquire

525.Section 221 inserts a new section 16A into the Housing Act 1996. This new section gives tenants of properties funded through section 27A grant a right to acquire their home equivalent to the right enjoyed by tenants of RSLs under section 16 of the Housing Act 1996.

526.New section 16A applies section 16 of the 1996 Act, with modifications, in relation to dwellings funded wholly or in part by section 27A grant. Where grant is given under section 27A the Housing Corporation must notify the grant recipient that any dwelling funded under section 27A could be subject to a right to acquire, (see subsection (3)). Subsection (4) of the new section provides that a dwelling should be regarded as having remained within the social rented sector if it has been continuously used by the grant recipient, or a person treated as the grant recipient under section 27B, in accordance with the purposes for which the grant was given.