The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1986

Secure tenancies N.I.

11.—(1) This Article applies where the Executive acquires an interest in a defective dwelling in pursuance of Article 9 and the land in which the interest subsists is or includes a dwelling-house occupied as a separate dwelling (in this Article referred to as a “ relevant dwelling-house”).

(2) Where an individual is an occupier of a relevant dwelling-house throughout the qualifying period and either—

(a) he is a person entitled to assistance by way of repurchase in respect of the defective dwelling, or

(b) the persons so entitled are, in relation to the interest concerned, his trustees,

the Executive shall, subject to the following provisions of this Article, grant him a secure tenancy on completion of its acquisition of the interest concerned.

(3) Where an individual—

(a) is at the end of the qualifying period a tenant of a relevant dwelling-house under a periodic tenancy, and

(b) has been an occupier of the dwelling-house throughout the qualifying period,

the Executive shall, subject to the following provisions of this Article, grant him a secure tenancy on completion of its acquisition of the interest concerned.

(4) If two or more persons qualify under paragraph (2) or (3) for the grant of a secure tenancy in respect of the same relevant dwelling-house, the Executive shall, subject to the following provisions of this Article, grant the tenancy to such one or more of them as they may agree among themselves or (if there is no such agreement) to all of them.

(5) The dwelling-house let under the secure tenancy to be granted to any person under this Article shall—

(a) if the circumstances do not fall within paragraph 2 of Schedule 3, be the dwelling-house of which he is the occupier at the end of the qualifying period;

(b) if the circumstances do fall within paragraph 2 of that Schedule, be another dwelling-house which, so far as is reasonably practicable, affords accommodation which meets the requirements of suitability set out in paragraph 3 of that Schedule.

(6) The Executive shall not be required to grant to any person a secure tenancy under this Article unless that person requests it to do so in writing before the service on the person entitled to assistance of a copy of the agreement drawn up under Article 9(4) or paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 2.

(7) On receiving a request under paragraph (6), the Executive shall, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, give notice in writing to the person making the request stating—

(a) whether or not in its opinion the circumstances of his case fall within paragraph 2 of Schedule 3, and

(b) if its opinion is that they do—

(i) which of the Cases specified in that paragraph is applicable to those circumstances, and

(ii) the effect of paragraph (5) and Schedule 3.

(8) If at any time after the service of a notice under Article 7(2) it appears to the Executive that a person may be entitled to request it to grant him a tenancy under paragraph (3), it shall forthwith give him notice in writing of that fact.

(9) In this Article—

• “dwelling-house” has the same meaning as in Chapter II of Part II of the Order of 1983;

• “occupier”, in relation to a dwelling-house, means a person who occupies the dwelling-house as his only or principal home;

• “qualifying period” means the period beginning with the making of an application under Article 6 in respect of the defective dwelling and ending immediately before completion of the Executive's acquisition;

• “relevant dwelling-house” has the meaning given in paragraph (1);

• “secure tenancy” has the same meaning as in Chapter II of Part II of the Order of 1983;

• and references to the grant of a secure tenancy are references to the grant of a tenancy which would be a secure tenancy assuming that the tenant under the tenancy occupies the dwelling-house concerned as his only or principal home.