Chapter 1 – Further Provisions Relating to Occupation Contracts
Section 233 – Effect of reaching 18
494.Section 7(6) provides that a person under the age of 18 cannot be a contract-holder under an occupation contract, and paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 2 provides that where all the tenants or licensees living in a dwelling are under 18, there is no occupation contract. This section concerns what happens when either-
a person below the age of 18 who is the only tenant or licensee in relation to a dwelling reaches the age of 18, or
where there is a tenancy or licence with more than one tenant or licensee and all the tenants are under 18, the eldest tenant or licensee reaches the age of 18.
495.In either of those circumstances it is necessary to determine whether the tenancy or licence is an occupation contract and, if so, whether it is a standard or secure contract and who the contract-holder(s) will be. This section provides that those questions (which will be answered in accordance with the rest of the Act, and with regard to the particular circumstances that arise) are to be answered on the basis that the tenancy or licence was made on the day the person turned 18.
Section 234 – Consultation arrangements and Section 235 - Statement of consultation arrangements
496.Under section 234, community landlords must have arrangements in place for informing contract-holders about certain ‘relevant proposals on housing management matters’, and giving them an opportunity to comment. What constitutes such a proposal is set out in subsection (4); and subsection (5) means that the requirement to consult does not relate to proposed changes to rent or consideration, or to facilities or service charges.
497.These requirements also do not apply where the requirement to consult under paragraph 12(7) of Schedule 2, which concerns redevelopment schemes and the estate management grounds, applies.
498.Under section 235, each community landlord must publish a statement on the arrangements it has made in order to meet the requirements in section 234(1), together with a summary, both of which must be available on request to contract-holders and to members of the public. Registered social landlords and private registered providers of social housing must send copies of the statement to the Welsh Ministers and the local housing authority for the area in which the dwellings in question are situated.
Section 236 – Form of notices, statements and other documents and Section 237 - Giving notices, statements and other documents
499.Any notices or other documents given or made under the Act must be in writing, and the Welsh Ministers can make provision in regulations about the form of notices and documents. Notices and documents may be in electronic form, as long as they contain the certified electronic signatures of any required parties (or an agent authorised by the party), but this is subject to the conditions in section 237(4).
500.Where a notice or document is required or authorised to be given to a person under the Act, it is considered as given if it is delivered to the person or posted to, or left at, that person’s last known address or place of business or any other place that the person has specified as a place where they may be given notices or documents. In the case of a contract-holder, the dwelling that the contract-holder occupies is also an appropriate address.
501.A notice or document may also be given electronically if the recipient has agreed to receive it in this manner, it is legible, and the text it contains can be used for subsequent reference.
