Disposal of land, etc.
13.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), any provision contained in the rules of a registered housing association which prevents it from disposing of any land (where such disposal would otherwise be lawful) shall be of no effect.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 30 of the Act of 1969—
(a)a registered housing association may not dispose of or mortgage any land, and
(b)an unregistered housing association may not dispose of any grant-aided land as defined in Schedule 2,
without the consent of the Department.
(3) Any such consent may be given—
(a)subject to such conditions as the Department sees fit to impose; and
(b)either generally in relation to all housing associations or to a particular housing association or description of association; or
(c)in relation to particular land or in relation to a particular description of land.
(4) Paragraph (2)(b) shall not prevent an unregistered housing association from disposing of any land by the granting of a lease for a term ending within the period of 7 years and 3 months beginning on the date of the grant unless—
(a)there is conferred on the lessee (whether by the lease or otherwise) an option for renewal for a term which, together with the original term, would expire outside that period; or
(b)the lease is granted wholly or partly in consideration of a fine.
(5) Without prejudice to the generality of the expression “dispose” in paragraph (2), in paragraph (4) the expression “lease” includes an agreement for a lease and a licence to occupy and the expressions “grant” and “term” shall be construed accordingly.
(6) This Article does not apply to a letting of land to one or more individuals by a registered housing association under a secure tenancy or under what would be a secure tenancy but for paragraphs 1(b) to 9 of Schedule 2 to the Order of 1983.
(7) There shall be included among the matters which are required to be registered in the Statutory Charges Register the statutory condition attaching by virtue of this Article to land acquired by a registered housing association.
(8) An application for registration of the statutory condition attaching to land by virtue of this Article shall be made by the Department as soon as is reasonably practicable after the acquisition of the land.
(9) For the purposes of paragraph (8), a registered housing association shall upon acquiring any land forthwith—
(a)inform the Department of the acquisition, and
(b)provide such information with respect to the acquisition as the Department may require.
(10) Any person who suffers loss by reason of the failure of the Department to comply with paragraph (8) may bring proceedings in any court of competent jurisdiction against the Department and recover from it the amount of that loss.