172Transfer of new town housing stock
(1)Subject to the following provisions of this section, the Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for requiring and authorising each new town corporation to take such steps as may be prescribed for making and giving effect to proposals for disposing of their housing stock, either by transferring it as a whole to a prescribed person or by transferring different parts of it to different prescribed persons.
(2)Regulations under subsection (1) above shall not require a new town corporation to transfer any dwelling or associated property, rights, liabilities or obligations to any person other than—
(a)the district council within whose district the dwelling is situated; or
(b)a person approved for the purposes of, and in accordance with, the regulations by the Housing Corporation or Housing for Wales.
(3)Regulations under subsection (1) above shall not require a new town corporation to give effect to a proposal for the transfer of any dwelling if the dwelling is one in respect of which a notice has been served under section 122 of the [1985 c. 68.] Housing Act 1985 (notice of a claim to exercise the right to buy) before the prescribed time and such other conditions as may be prescribed are satisfied.
(4)A new town corporation shall not, in pursuance of any regulations under subsection (1) above, transfer any dwellings, or any associated property, rights, liabilities or obligations, to any person except with the consent of the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State shall not give his consent to a proposed transfer unless he is satisfied—
(a)that there has been compliance with all such requirements with respect to the publication of information about the proposal and matters connected with its implementation, and with respect to consultation about the proposal, as are prescribed;
(b)that all such steps have been taken as are prescribed for the purpose of protecting the interests of the occupiers of the dwellings or the interests of the occupiers of any dwellings excluded from the proposal by virtue of subsection (3) above or any such consultation; and
(c)that the terms on which the transfer is made—
(i)require such price to be paid for the property transferred as appears to him to be the price which, on the prescribed assumptions, it would realise if sold on the open market by a willing vendor; and
(ii)include all such other terms as are prescribed.
(5)Regulations under subsection (1) above may contain such incidental provision and such supplemental, consequential and transitional provision in connection with their other provisions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate, including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, provision corresponding to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 12 to the [1988 c. 50.] Housing Act 1988 (matters relating to registration of title).
(6)Subject to subsection (7) below, Part III of the [1981 c. 64.] New Towns Act 1981 (transfer of dwellings and associated property to district councils) shall cease to have effect.
(7)Nothing in subsection (6) above shall—
(a)affect the operation after the time when that subsection comes into force of so much of any transfer scheme made under Part III of the said Act of 1981 before that time as contains management arrangements with respect to land in which a new town corporation have an interest;
(b)affect the application after that time of section 50 of that Act (financial arrangements) in relation to any transfer scheme made under that Part before that time; or
(c)prevent the Secretary of State from exercising his power to make grants to a district council under section 51A of that Act (grants in respect of defects in transferred dwellings) where the grants are paid before the 1st April 1990 or such later date as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint in relation to that council;
and a statutory instrument containing an order under this subsection shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(8)In this section—
“dwelling” means any building or part of a building occupied, or erected or adapted for occupation, as a dwelling or as a hostel (including any land belonging to it or usually enjoyed with it);
“housing stock”, in relation to a new town corporation, means—
(a)the dwellings (whether or not in the area of a particular new town) which are vested in that corporation and were erected, adapted or acquired for occupation as dwellings; and
(b)except so far as may be prescribed, any associated property, rights, liabilities and obligations of that corporation;
“liabilities and obligations”, in relation to a new town corporation, includes liabilities and obligations which, apart from the regulations, would not be capable of being assigned or transferred by the corporation, including liabilities and obligations under Part V of the [1985 c. 68.] Housing Act 1985 (the right to buy);
“new town corporation” means the Commission for the New Towns, the Development Board for Rural Wales or a development corporation, within the meaning of the New Towns Act 1981; and
“prescribed” means prescribed by or determined under regulations under subsection (1) above.
(9)For the purposes of this section the following property, rights, liabilities and obligations of a new town corporation shall be treated as associated with any dwellings comprised in their housing stock, that is to say—
(a)any interest of the corporation in any land occupied or set aside for occupation or use with the dwellings;
(b)any interest of the corporation in land in the vicinity of the dwellings which is held by them for the benefit or use of the persons living in those dwellings (rather than the inhabitants of a new town as a whole) or for providing facilities for the persons living in those dwellings, and any other property and any rights of the corporation so held;
(c)any property and rights held by the corporation—
(i)for the administration of an estate comprising the dwellings or any associated property;
(ii)for the maintenance or service of the dwellings or any associated property; or
(iii)otherwise in connection with any such property;
(d)any rights, liabilities and obligations which the corporation have in connection with any of the dwellings or any associated property or in connection with any dwellings which were previously part of their housing stock;
(e)any interest of the corporation in land set aside by them as an open space for the use or enjoyment of persons living in the dwellings (rather than for the use of the inhabitants of a new town as a whole).