(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Housing (Service Charge Loans) Regulations 1992 (“the 1992 Regulations”) which provide for housing authorities to make loans to their tenants in respect of service charges for repairs or improvements. The amendments, which apply only in relation to England, relate to loans made under the discretionary power in regulation 5 of the 1992 Regulations. That power may be exercised, in respect of flats, by “housing authorities”. The term “housing authority” for the purposes of these amendments is defined in section 450B(4) of the Housing Act 1985.
Regulation 2 substitutes regulation 6(2) of the 1992 Regulations to provide that a loan made under the power in regulation 5 may be on terms that do not require the payment of interest or that require the payment of interest on only part of the loan.
Regulation 3 amends paragraph 1(a) of Schedule 2 to the 1992 Regulations in consequence of the new regulation 6(2).
A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. However the proposed provision was included in a consultation document issued in August 2007 on proposed changes to the Right to Buy scheme, to which a general impact assessment regarding these changes was attached.