General provisions
Section 122 - Payments to members etc.
283.This section derives from paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the 1996 Act.
284.Subsection (1) restricts the making of gifts and the payment of dividends and bonuses by a non-profit registered provider to –
a member or former member of the registered provider,
a member of the family of a member or former member,
a company which has as a director such a person.
285.Subsection (2) states that gifts may only be made, or dividends of bonuses paid if they fall within the three classes defined in subsections (3) to (5).
286.Subsections (3) to (5) broadly replicate the effects of paragraphs 1(2)(a) to (c) of the Part mentioned above.
287.Subsection (6) states that if a registered company or industrial and provident society contravenes this section –
it may recover the wrongful gift or payment as a debt from the recipient; and
the regulator may require it to take action to recover the gift or payment.
Section 123 - Disposal of property
288.This section cross-refers to the provisions in Chapter 5 (disposal of property).
Section 124 – Complaints
289.Section 124 amends section 51 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Housing Act 1996 (schemes for investigation of complaints by housing ombudsman). This ensures that the former registered providers of social housing, and bodies formerly registered with the Housing Corporation, are only required to remain members of a housing ombudsman scheme while they continue to own publicly-funded dwellings.
Section 125 - Voluntary undertaking
290.This section sets out the nature of voluntary undertakings made to the regulator by registered providers.
291.Subsection (1) provides that a registered provider may give an undertaking in respect of any matter concerning social housing.
292.Subsection (2) provides that the regulator may prescribe a procedure to be followed in giving an undertaking.
293.Subsections (3) and (4) provide that the regulator must have regard to any undertaking made in this way by a registered provider when exercising a power under Chapters 6 or 7 of this Part of the Act. The regulator may also take into account the extent to which undertakings having been made in this way by a registered provider, have been honoured by the provider, when deciding whether to exercise powers under Chapters 6 or 7.
294.One of the purposes of this provision is to enable registered providers to formally notify the regulator of actions that they propose to take, and believe are necessary to ensure that their affairs are managed in accordance with the standards set by the regulator under sections 193 and 194. It provides a mechanism by which such commitments can be brought to the attention of the regulator, and require the regulator to take account of those undertakings when determining whether to investigate the performance of providers, and to take enforcement action where providers have not complied with regulatory requirements.
Section 126 – Sustainable community strategies
295.This section specifies that a registered provider must co-operate with a local authority if invited to participate in the preparation or modification of a sustainable community strategy under section 4 of the Local Government Act 2000.
