This Order specifies three bodies as approved lending institutions for the purposes of section 156 of the Housing Act 1985 (priority of charges on disposals under the right to buy). Other bodies have been specified by previous orders.

Such bodies also become approved lending institutions for the purposes of section 36 of the 1985 Act (priority of charges on voluntary disposals by local authorities) and section 12 of the Housing Act 1996 (priority of charges on voluntary disposals by registered social landlords).

In addition, as section 156 of the Housing Act 1985 is applied by section 171A of that Act to cases in which a tenant’s right to buy is preserved and by section 17 of the Housing Act 1996 to cases in which a tenant has the right to acquire under section 16 of that Act, the specified bodies become approved lending institutions for the purposes of those rights.