Housing (Scotland) Act 1986

Amendment of [1985 c. 69.] Housing Associations Act 1985

13 Shared ownership agreements

(1) In section 4 of the 1985 Act (eligibility of housing associations for registration), at the end of subsection (3) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(h) in Scotland, acquiring, or repairing and improving, or building, or creating by the conversion of dwellings or other property, dwellings to be disposed of under shared ownership agreements.”.

(2) In section 106(2) of the 1985 Act (interpretation for purposes of application to Scotland), for the definition of " shared ownership lease " there shall be substituted the following definition—

• ‘" shared ownership agreement" means an agreement whereby a registered housing association—

  (a)

  sells a pro indiviso right in a dwelling to a person and leases the remaining pro indiviso rights therein to him subject to his being entitled, from time to time, to purchase those remaining rights until he has purchased the entire dwelling; or

  (b)

  conveys pro indiviso tights in dwellings to trustees to hold on behalf of persons each of whom, by purchasing a share in those dwellings, becomes entitled to exclusive occupancy of one of the dwellings but with any such person who wishes to sell or otherwise dispose of his share being required to do so through the agency of the trustees,

  or such other agreement as may be approved whereby a person acquires from a registered housing association a pro indiviso right in a dwelling or dwellings and thereby becomes entitled to exclusive occupancy of the dwelling or, as the case may be, of one of the dwellings;'.’

14 Payments etc. in community-based housing associations

After section 15 of the 1985 Act there shall be inserted the following section—

“15A Payments etc. in community-based housing associations in Scotland.

(1) In relation to a community-based housing association in Scotland the following are also permitted, notwithstanding section 15(1) of this Act—

(a) payments made by the association in respect of the purchase of a dwelling, or part of a dwelling, owned and occupied by a person described in subsection (2) below who is not an employee of the association; but only if—

(i) such payments constitute expenditure in connection with housing projects undertaken for the purpose of improving or repairing dwellings, being expenditure in respect of which housing association grants may be made under section 41(1) of this Act; and

(ii) the purchase price does not exceed such value as may be placed on the dwelling, or as the case may be part, by the district valuer;

(b) the granting of the tenancy of a dwelling, or part of a dwelling, to such a person; but only if the person—

(i) lives in the dwelling or in another dwelling owned by the association ; or

(ii) has at any time within the period of twelve months immediately preceding the granting of the tenancy lived in the dwelling (or such other dwelling) whether or not it belonged to the housing association when he lived there.

(2) The persons mentioned in subsection (1) above are—

(a) a committee member or voluntary officer of the association; or

(b) a person who at any time in the twelve months preceding the payment (or as the case may be the granting of the tenancy) has been such a member or officer ; or

(c) a close relative of a person described in paragraph (a), or (b), above.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, a housing association is " community-based " if it is designated as such by the Housing Corporation.

(4) The Housing Corporation—

(a) shall make a designation under subsection (3) above only if it considers that the activities of the housing association relate wholly or mainly to the improvement of dwellings, or the management of improved dwellings, within a particular community (whether or not identified by reference to a geographical area entirely within any one administrative area); and

(b) may revoke such a designation if it considers, after giving the association an opportunity to make representations to it as regards such revocation, that the association's activities have ceased so to relate.”.

15 Extension of sections 44 and 45 of 1985 Act to Scotland

Sections 44 (projects qualifying for housing association grant: repair or improvement after exercise of right to buy etc.) and 45 (projects qualifying for such grant: disposal to tenant of charitable housing association etc.) of the 1985 Act shall apply to Scotland ; and accordingly—

(a) in the said section 44—

(i) in subsection (1), after the word "exercise" there shall be inserted the word " — (a) "; and after the words " 1985 " there shall be inserted the following paragraph— “; or

(b) in Scotland, his right to purchase under section 1 of the [1980 c. 52.] Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980,”;

(ii) in subsection (2), after the word " exercised " there shall be inserted the word " — (a) "; and after the word " lease " there shall be inserted the following paragraph— “; or

(b) in Scotland, the right to purchase,”; and

(iii) for subsection (3) there shall be substituted the following subsection—

“(3) " Dwelling-house ", in the application of this section to—

(a) England and Wales, has the same meaning as in Part V of the [1985 c. 68.] Housing Act 1985; and

(b) Scotland, means a house.”; and

(b) in the said section 45—

(i) in subsection (2), after the word "for" there shall be inserted the word " — (a) " and at the end there shall be added the following words— “; or

(b) subsection (11)(e) or (f) of section 1 of the [1980 c. 52.] Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980 (analogous Scottish provision) would have a right to purchase under that section.”;

(ii) in subsection (3), at the end there shall be added the words " ; and a dwelling is also publicly funded for this purpose if it is in Scotland and housing association grant has been paid in respect of a project which included its improvement or repair or, where it and another dwelling are both provided for letting under the project, the improvement or repair of that other dwelling. ";

(iii) in subsection (4), at the beginning there shall be inserted the words " In England and Wales, "; and

(iv) after subsection (4) there shall be added the following subsection—

“(5) In Scotland, where a registered housing association concludes missives for the acquisition of a house and, without taking title, disposes of its interest to a tenant to whom this section applies, subsection (1) and the following provisions have effect as if the association first acquired the house and then disposed of it to the tenant—

• section 8 (disposal of land by registered housing associations),

• section 9 (consent of Housing Corporation to disposals),

• section 79(2) (power of Housing Corporation to lend to person acquiring interest from registered housing association), and

• section 6 of the [1980 c. 52.] Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980 (recovery of discount on early re-sale).”.

16 Repayment of housing association grant

(1) In section 52 of the 1985 Act (reduction, suspension or reclamation of housing association grant), at the end of subsection (1) there shall be added the following words— “or

(f) there is paid to the association, in respect of land to which the grant relates, an amount payable in pursuance of section 6 of the Tenants' Rights Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980 (recovery of discount on early re-sale), or

(g) in Scotland, there is paid to the association, in respect of land to which the grant relates, an amount payable as regards the purchase, under a shared ownership agreement, of a pro indiviso share in a dwelling by a person who already has such a share in the dwelling under that agreement.”.

(2) In subsection (3)(b) of the said section 52, for the words " or (e) " there shall be substituted the words " (e), (f) or (g) ".