32Revenue deficit grants for registered housing associations
(1)The Secretary of State may, in accordance with the provisions of this section, pay a grant (in this section referred to as a " revenue deficit grant ") to a registered housing association, other than an association falling within paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 18(1) above, if the association incurs a deficit on its annual revenue account for an accounting year of the association ending on or after 1st January 1974.
(2)No revenue deficit grant shall be payable in respect of an accounting year of a registered housing association unless—
(a)an application in respect of that year is made by the association to the Secretary of State not later than the expiry of the period of 15 months beginning immediately after the end of that year and that application is approved by him; and
(b)the application is in such form and contains such information as the Secretary of State may from time to time determine ; and
(c)the application is accompanied by the audited accounts of the association for the accounting year to which the application relates.
(3)Subject to subsection (4) below, for the purposes of this section, a registered housing association shall be treated as incurring a deficit on its annual revenue account for an accounting year of the association if—
(a)the expenditure of the association for that year which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, is attributable to dwellings provided by the association and any related property and is reasonable and appropriate, having regard to all the circumstances,
exceeds
(b)the income which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the association might reasonably be expected to receive in respect of those dwellings and any related property in that year, including any sums received or to be received in respect of that year by way of grant or subsidy under any enactment, other than this section,
and for this purpose expenditure and income shall be calculated in such manner as the Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, from time to time determine.
(4)Notwithstanding anything in subsection (3) above, no account shall be taken for the purposes of this section of so much of any deficit as, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, arises by virtue of any such difference between income and expenditure as is specified in section 31(1) above.
(5)The revenue deficit grant payable to a registered housing association in respect of any accounting year shall be of such amount as the Secretary of State may determine in relation to that association but shall not be greater than the amount of the excess determined for that year under subsection (3) above.
(6)If he considers it appropriate to do so the Secretary of State may make payments on account of any revenue deficit grant which he considers is likely to become payable to a registered housing association in respect of any accounting year but, subject thereto, any such grant shall be paid in a single sum in respect of the accounting year to which it relates.
(7)No revenue deficit grant shall be paid before the operative date but applications for such a grant may be made before that date and such an application may be so made by a housing association notwithstanding that it is not then registered.
(8)In subsection (3) above "related property", in relation to dwellings provided by a housing association, means property of the association which is provided for the benefit of the persons occupying those dwellings.