43.—(1) The Executive may not entertain an application for a common parts grant unless it is satisfied—
(a)that, at the date of the application, at least the required proportion of the flats in the building concerned is occupied by occupying tenants; and
(b)that the application is either a landlord’s common parts application or a tenants' common parts application.
(2) In this Chapter—
(a)an “occupying tenant”, in relation to a flat in a building, is a person—
(i)who has (alone or jointly with others) such an interest in the flat as is mentioned in any of sub-paragraphs (b) to (e) of paragraph (4); and
(ii)who occupies the flat as his only or main residence;
(b)a “landlord’s common parts application”, in relation to works to the common parts of a building, is an application for a common parts grant made by a person who—
(i)has (alone or jointly with others) such an interest in the building as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (4); and
(ii)has a duty or power to carry out the relevant works; and
(c)a “tenants' common parts application”, in relation to works to the common parts of a building, is an application for a common parts grant made, subject to paragraph (3), by at least three-quarters of the occupying tenants of the building who, under their tenancies, have a duty to carry out, or to make a contribution in respect of the carrying out of, some or all of the relevant works;
and in any case where a tenancy is held by 2 or more persons jointly, those persons shall be regarded as a single occupying tenant in deciding, for the purposes of sub-paragraph (c), whether the application is made by at least three-quarters of the occupying tenants referred to in that paragraph.
(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2), a tenant whose tenancy is of a description specified for the purpose of that paragraph by an order made by the Department shall be treated as an occupying tenant falling within that sub-paragraph; and a person who falls within sub-paragraph (b)(i) of that paragraph and has a duty or power to carry out any of the relevant works may also join in a tenants' common parts application; and, where such a person does join in an application, he is in this Chapter referred to as a “participating landlord”.
(4) The interests referred to in paragraph (2) are as follows—
(a)a freehold estate in possession (whether legal or equitable);
(b)a tenancy granted or extended for a term of years of which not less than 5 years remain unexpired at the date of the application;
(c)a protected tenancy within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978(1);
(d)a statutory tenancy within the meaning of Article 4(5) of that Order; and
(e)a tenancy which satisfies such conditions as may be specified by order made by the Department.
(5) The required proportion mentioned in paragraph (1) is three-quarters or such other proportion as may be—
(a)specified for the purposes of this Article by an order made by the Department; or
(b)approved by the Department, in relation to a particular case or description of case, on application made by the Executive.