Acquisition of land
12.—(1) The Department may, for the purpose of selling or leasing land to a registered housing association or to an unregistered self-build society—
(a)acquire any land by agreement or compulsorily;
(b)dispose of any land so acquired.
(2) Where the Department in exercise of the power conferred on it by paragraph (1) desires to acquire any land compulsorily, the Department may make an order (in this Article referred to as a “vesting order”) vesting the land in the Department.
(3) Section 97(3) of, and Schedule 6 to, the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(1) shall, subject to the modifications specified in Schedule 1, apply for the purposes of the acquisition of land by means of a vesting order made under this Article in the same manner as they apply to the acquisition of land by means of a vesting order made under that Act.
(4) Section 5 of the Stormont Regulation and Government Property Act (Northern Ireland) 1933(2) shall not affect the disposal of any land acquired or taken on lease under this Article.