2003 No. 498

HOUSING, ENGLAND

The Housing (Right to Buy) (Limits on Discount) (Amendment) Order 2003

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The First Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 131(2) and (3) of the Housing Act 19851 hereby makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement1

This Order may be cited as the Housing (Right to Buy) (Limits on Discount) (Amendment) Order 2003 and shall come into force on 27th March 2003.

Amendment of Order2

The Housing (Right to Buy) (Limits on Discount) Order 19982 shall be amended in accordance with the following articles.

Maximum discounts3

1

In article 3—

a

at the beginning of paragraph (1) insert “Subject to article 3A,”; and

b

in that paragraph and paragraph (2), for “the Schedule” substitute “Schedule 1”.

2

After article 3 insert—

3A

1

In relation to a dwelling house situated in one of the areas specified in Column 2 of Schedule 2, the prescribed sum for the purposes of section 131(2) is £16,000.

2

Area means a county or district in England, a London borough, or the City of London.

3

The Schedule shall become Schedule 1 to the Order and after that Schedule insert—

SCHEDULE 2

Column 1

Column 2

Name of region as set out in Schedule 1

Specified area

Eastern

Watford

London

Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith& Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster

South East

Chiltern, Epsom & Ewell, Hart, Oxford, Reading, Reigate & Banstead, Tonbridge & Malling, Vale of White Horse, West Berkshire

Application4

The amendments made by article 3 above shall not have effect in a case where a notice under section 122(1) of the Housing Act 1985 was served before the date on which this Order came into force.

Signed by authority of the First Secretary of State

Jeff RookerMinister of State,Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

(This note is not part of the Order)

A person exercising the right to buy a dwelling-house in England under Part 5 of the Housing Act 1985 may be entitled, under sections 129 to 131 of and Schedule 4 to the Act, to a discount equal to a percentage of the price before discount.

The discount may not, however, reduce the price by more than such sum as the Secretary of State may by order prescribe. The Housing (Right to Buy) (Limits on Discount) Order 1998 currently prescribes the maximum discount for specified regions in England. This order amends that order to change the maximum discount for the areas specified within the Eastern, London and South East regions to £16,000.