Legalize / United Kingdom / Public General Act

Housing Defects Act 1984

Type Public General Act

Publication 1984-07-31

State In force

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

Eligibility

Designation of defective dwellings

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(1) The Secretary of State may designate as a class any buildings each of which consists of or includes one or more dwellings if it appears to him that—

(a) buildings in the proposed class are defective by reason of their design or construction, and

(b) by virtue of the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (a) above having become generally known, the value of some or all of the dwellings concerned has been substantially reduced.

(2) Any dwelling which a building in a class designated under this section consists of or includes is referred to in this Act as a " defective dwelling "; and in this Act in relation to such a dwelling—

(a) "the qualifying defect" means that which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, is wrong with the buildings in that class ; and

(b) "the cut-off date" means the date by which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above became generally known.

(3) A designation under this section shall describe the qualifying defect and specify—

(a) the date on which the designation is to come into operation ;

(b) the cut-off date (not being a date falling after the date specified under paragraph (a) above); and

(4) The Secretary of State may vary or revoke a designation under this section and may by a variation of the designation extend the period referred to in subsection (3)(c) above, whether or not it has expired ; but

(a) no variation or revocation shall affect the operation of the provisions of this Act in relation to any dwelling if, before the variation or revocation comes into operation, it is a defective dwelling by virtue of the designation in question and application for assistance in respect of it has been made under section 3 of this Act; and

(b) no variation shall alter the cut-off date.

(5) Notice of a designation under this section and of the variation or revocation of such a designation shall—

(a) if it relates to England or Wales, be published in the London Gazette, and

(b) if it relates to Scotland, be published in the Edinburgh Gazette.

(6) Any question arising as to whether a building is or was at any time in a class designated under this section shall be determined by the Secretary of State.

(7) A designation under this section may make different provision in relation to England, Scotland and Wales; subject to that, no such designation shall describe a designated class by reference to the area in which the buildings concerned are situated.

Eligibility for assistance

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(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Act, a person to whom this section applies is eligible for assistance in respect of a defective dwelling for the purposes of this Act if—

(a) he holds a relevant interest in the dwelling, and

(b) one of the following sets of conditions is satisfied.

(2) The first set of conditions is that—

(a) there was a disposal by a public sector authority of a relevant interest in the dwelling before the cut-off date; and

(b) there has been no disposal for value by any person of a relevant interest in the dwelling on or after the cutoff date;

and for the purposes of this subsection where a public sector authority hold an interest in a dwelling a disposal of that interest by or under any enactment is to be treated as a disposal by the authority.

(3) The second set of conditions is that—

(a) a person to whom this section applies acquired a relevant interest in the dwelling on a disposal for value occurring within the period of twelve months beginning with the cut-off date ;

(b) on the date of that disposal that person was unaware of the association of the dwelling with the qualifying defect;

(c) the value by reference to which the price for the disposal was calculated did not take any, or any adequate, account of the qualifying defect; and

(d) if the cut-off date had fallen immediately after the date of the disposal, the first set of conditions would have been satisfied.

(4) A person who holds a relevant interest in a defective dwelling is not eligible for assistance in respect of the dwelling at any time when that interest is subject to the rights of a person who is a protected occupier within the meaning of the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 or a statutory tenant within the meaning of that Act.

(5) No person is eligible for assistance in respect of a defective dwelling if the appropriate authority are of the opinion that—

(a) work to the building that consists of or includes the dwelling has been carried out in order to deal with the qualifying defect, and

(b) on the completion of the work, no further work relating to the dwelling was required to be done to the building in order to deal satisfactorily with the qualifying defect.

(6) In this Act, references to a disposal, except in paragraph 2 of Schedule 2, include references to a part disposal; but, for the purposes of this Act, a disposal of an interest in a dwelling is a disposal of a relevant interest in the dwelling if, and only if, on the disposal the person to whom it is made acquires a relevant interest in the dwelling.

(7) This section applies to—

(a) an individual who is not a trustee,

(b) trustees, if all the beneficiaries are individuals, and

(8) In this Act—

(a) " relevant interest" means the freehold or a long tenancy unless, in either case, it is subject to a long tenancy and, in Scotland, means the interest of the owner;

(b) references to an interest in a dwelling are references to an interest in land which is or includes the dwelling;

(c) in relation to a person holding an interest in a dwelling formed by the conversion of another dwelling, references to a previous disposal of an interest in the dwelling include a reference to a previous disposal on which an interest in land which included that part of the original dwelling in which his interest subsists was acquired; and

(d) references to a disposal of an interest for value are references to a disposal for money or money's worth, whether or not representing full value for the interest disposed of.

(9) Subject to subsection (10) below, a tenancy is a long tenancy for the purposes of subsection (8) above if—

(a) it is a tenancy granted for a term certain exceeding twenty-one years, whether or not it is (or may become) terminable before the end of that term by notice given by or to the tenant or by re-entry, forfeiture or otherwise ;

(b) it is a tenancy granted in pursuance of Chapter I of Part I of the 1980 Act or Part I of the Housing and Building Control Act 1984 ; or

(c) it is a tenancy for a term fixed by law under a grant with a covenant or obligation for perpetual renewal, unless it is a tenancy by sub-demise from one which is not a long tenancy.

(10) A tenancy is not a long tenancy for those purposes if—

(a) it is an interest created by way of security and liable to termination by the exercise of a right of redemption or otherwise; or

(b) it is a secure tenancy (within the meaning of Chapter II. of Part I of the 1980 Act).

Entitlement to reinstatement grant or repurchase

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(1) Any person seeking assistance under this Act in respect of a defective dwelling shall make a written application to the appropriate authority within such period as is specified in the designation in question.

(2) Subject to subsection (8) below and section 21(3) of this Act, an authority receiving such an application shall, if the applicant is eligible for assistance in respect of the defective dwelling, determine whether he is entitled to assistance by way of reinstatement grant or by way of repurchase.

(3) For the purposes of that determination the applicant is entitled to assistance by way of reinstatement grant if—

(a) the authority are satisfied that each of the conditions mentioned in subsection (4) below is met, and

(b) subsection (5) below does not apply in his case,

and in any other case he is entitled to assistance by way of repurchase.

(4) The conditions referred to in subsection (3) above are that—

(a) the defective dwelling is a house ;

(b) if the work required to reinstate the dwelling (together with any other work which the authority are satisfied the applicant proposes to carry out) were carried out—

(i) the dwelling would be likely to provide satisfactory housing accommodation for a period of at least thirty years, and

(ii) an individual acquiring the freehold of the dwelling with vacant possession would be likely to be able to arrange a mortgage on satisfactory terms with a lending institution ;

(c) giving assistance by way of reinstatement grant is justified having regard, on the one hand, to the amount of reinstatement grant that would be payable in respect of the dwelling in pursuance of this Act and, on the other hand, to the likely value of the freehold of the dwelling with vacant possession after the work required to reinstate it had been carried out; and

(d) the amount of reinstatement grant that would be so payable would not be likely to exceed the amount which, on the acquisition of the applicant's interest in the dwelling in pursuance of this Act, would be the aggregate of the price payable for the acquisition and any amount to be reimbursed under section 11 of this Act.

(5) This subsection applies in the case of an applicant where the authority are satisfied on a claim made by him that it would be unreasonable to expect him to secure or await the carrying out of the work required to reinstate the defective dwelling.

(6) The Secretary of State may by order amend subsection (4) above (whether as originally enacted or as previously amended under this subsection) so as to modify or omit any of the conditions there mentioned or to add or substitute for any of those conditions other conditions; and an order under this subsection—

(a) may make different provision for different classes of case,

(b) shall not affect the operation of this section in relation to applications made under this section before the order comes into force.

(7) For the purposes of this Act—

(a) the work required to reinstate a defective dwelling is the work relating to the dwelling that is required to be done to the building that consists of or includes the dwelling in order to deal satisfactorily with the qualifying defect, and

(b) where there is work falling within paragraph (a) above, the work required to reinstate the defective dwelling includes—

(i) any work required, in order to deal satisfactorily with the qualifying defect, to be done to any garage or outhouse designed or constructed as that building is designed or constructed, being a garage or outhouse in which the interest of the person eligible for assistance subsists and which is occupied with and used for the purposes of the dwelling or any part of it, and

(ii) any other work reasonably required in connection with work falling within paragraph (a) above or this paragraph.

(8) An appropriate authority shall not entertain an application under this section in respect of a defective dwelling if at any time (whether before or after the designation in question comes into operation) application for grant under Part VII of the Housing Act 1974 or Part I of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1974 has been made in respect of the dwelling and the relevant works include the whole or any part of the work required to reinstate the defective dwelling unless—

(a) the application under that Part has been refused or has been withdrawn under subsection (9) below, or

(b) the relevant works have been completed.

(9) A person who has applied for grant under Part VII of the Housing Act 1974 or Part I of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1974 in respect of any dwelling may, at any time when it is a defective dwelling, withdraw his application, whether or not it has been approved, if the relevant works have not been begun and those works include the whole or any part of the work required to reinstate the defective dwelling.

In this subsection and subsection (8) above " the relevant works " has the same meaning as in Part VII of the Housing Act 1974 or, in Scotland, is to be construed as a reference to works of improvement or repair within the meaning of Part I of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1974.

(10) Where a person who is eligible for assistance in respect of a defective dwelling dies or disposes of his interest in the dwelling to a person to whom section 2 of this Act applies (otherwise than on a disposal for value), this Act shall apply as if anything done or treated by virtue of this subsection as done by or in relation to the person so eligible had been done by or in relation to his personal representatives or, as the case may be the person acquiring the interest.

(11) This section applies to Scotland as if, in subsection (4)—

(a) for paragraph (b)(ii) there were substituted—

(ii) an individual acquiring ownership of the dwelling with vacant possession would be likely to be able to obtain a loan on the security of it on satisfactory terms from a lending institution

; and

(b) in paragraph (c) the words " freehold of the " were omitted.

Notice of determination

4

(1) An authority receiving an application which they are required to entertain under section 3 of this Act shall, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, give notice in writing to the applicant stating whether or not in their opinion he is eligible for assistance in respect of the defective dwelling, and also—

(a) if they are of the opinion that he is not so eligible, the reasons for their view ;

(b) if they are of the opinion that he is so eligible, informing him of his right to make a claim under section 3(5) of this Act.

(2) Where the authority are required to entertain an application from an applicant who is eligible for assistance, they shall, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, give him notice in writing stating—

(a) the form of assistance to which he is entitled ; and

(b) if, on a claim by the applicant, the authority have satisfied themselves that section 3(5) of this Act does not apply in his case, the reasons for their view.

(3) A notice under subsection (2) above stating that the applicant is entitled to assistance by way of reinstatement grant shall also state—

(a) the grounds for the authority's determination ;

(b) the work which, in their opinion, is the work required to reinstate the defective dwelling ;

(d) the amount of expenditure which, in their opinion, may properly be incurred in entering into any associated arrangement;

(e) the condition required by section 5(3) of this Act (including the period within which the work is to be carried out); and

(f) their estimate of the amount of grant that would be payable in respect of the dwelling in pursuance of this Act.

(4) A notice under subsection (2) above stating that the applicant is entitled to assistance by way of repurchase shall also state—

(a) the grounds for the authority's determination ; and

(b) the effect of the following provisions of this Act, that is—

section 6(1), (2) and (6) (except paragraph (b)), or

section 7(1), (2) and (7) (except paragraphs (b) to (d)), and

section 10(3) and (5) to (7).

(5) References in the following provisions of this Act to a person entitled to assistance by way of reinstatement grant or, as the case may be, by way of repurchase in respect of a defective dwelling are references to a person—

(a) who is eligible for assistance in respect of the dwelling, and

(b) on whom a notice under this section has been served stating that he is entitled to that form of assistance.

(6) In this Act, " associated arrangement" means any arrangement which—

(a) is to be entered into in connection with the execution of the work required to reinstate a defective dwelling, and

(b) is likely to contribute towards the dwelling being regarded as acceptable security by a lending institution.

Forms of assistance

Reinstatement grant

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

(2) In this section and that Schedule " qualifying work", in relation to a defective dwelling, means the work stated in a notice under section 4(2) of this Act or paragraph 3 of that Schedule to be, in the opinion of the authority, 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 appropriate authority within the period specified in the notice under section 4(2) of this Act 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 twelve months) beginning with the service of the notice as the authority may determine.

(5) The authority 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 to this Act has effect to require the repayment of grant in certain circumstances.

Repurchase

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