The Housing (Right to Manage) (England) Regulations 2008

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The Regulations, which are made under sections 27 and 27AB of the Housing Act 1985, set out the procedure to be followed where a tenant management organisation (“TMO”) proposes to enter into a management agreement with a local housing authority under section 27 of that Act. The Regulations impose an obligation on the authority in specified circumstances to enter into a management agreement, and contain related provisions.

These Regulations apply to England only. They revoke the Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994 (“the 1994 Regulations”) in so far as they apply to houses and authorities in England.

The Regulations are divided into 6 parts.

Part 1 provides general provisions for:

(a) conditions that the TMO must satisfy (regulation 4);

(b) extension of time (regulation 5);

(c) security of any ballot (regulation 6);

(d) written communications under the regulations (regulation 7) and

(e) resolution of disputes by arbitration (regulation 8).

Part 2 is the initiating the process stage and provides for:

(a) service and contents of the proposal notice (regulation 9);

(b) consultation and membership requirements in respect of the proposal notice (regulation 10);

(c) procedure and requirements for acceptance and refusal of proposal notices (regulation 11) and

(d) requests for support from the local authority for the TMO in pursuing the proposal notice (regulation 12).

Part 3 is the feasibility and development stage and provides for:

(a) feasibility studies (Regulation 13);

(b) appointment of an approved assessor to assess the competence of the TMO (regulation 14) and

(c) ballots and offer to all tenants of TMO proposal (regulation 15).

Part 4 is the implementation stage and provides for:

(a) the duty of the authority to enter into the agreement (regulation 16) and

(b) the incorporation of the TMO (regulation 17).

Part 5 provides for other provisions relating to TMOs:

(a) guidance by the Secretary of State (regulation 18);

(b) break clauses in other management agreements (regulation 19);

(c) participation by the authority in the TMO (regulation 20); and

(d) voluntary management agreements (regulation 21).

Part 6 provides for transitional arrangements in respect of applications made under the 1994 Regulations.

An Impact Assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations. It has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament and copies may be obtained from the Decent Homes and Finance Division of the Department for Communities and Local Government, Zone 1/A1, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU (Telephone [phone]).