The provisions caused great controversy in the last stages of debating the Bill before it was enacted, and particular provisions have now been included in relation to the potential for local authorities to offset the requirement to make payments to the Secretary of State (“SoS”) where agreement is reached that they will provide further social housing.
Duty to Consider Selling
The Act imposes a duty on local authorities (with housing that falls within a Housing Revenue Account) to consider selling their interest in any “higher value” housing that becomes vacant.
“Higher value” is still not defined within the Act and clarification on what will be considered to be higher value housing is to be included in regulations issued by the SoS.
Housing that “becomes vacant” is defined in a common-sense way (where a tenancy comes to an end and is not renewed) but there is the potential for the SoS to make regulations specifying circumstances that do not count as having “become vacant”.
The SoS can exclude housing from this duty under regulations, and may also provide statutory guidance for local housing authorities to follow. In reality, it is the subsequent statutory guidance that will determine how much discretion local housing authorities have over the decision to sell.
Payments to the Secretary of State
The Act enables the SoS (through regulations) to require local housing authorities to pay to the SoS an estimate of the market value of any higher-value housing that is likely to become vacant during the year (less costs and deductions stipulated by the SoS in regulations). Note that the SoS can treat the local housing authority as still having housing that it disposes under sections 32 or 43 of the Housing Act 1985 to a registered provider, or treat the housing as being likely to become vacant if it would have become vacant but for the local housing authority disposing of it to a registered provider – meaning that local housing authorities cannot avoid this provision by pursuing a stock transfer and that in seeking consent to transfer, this issue will need to be addressed. Payments may be reduced by agreement between the SoS and the local housing authority, with the intention that the local housing authority uses the amount by which the payment is reduced for the provision of housing. In Greater London, the local housing authority must ensure that this provides at least two new affordable homes for each old dwelling.
The devil is in the detail…
The key factors in relation to how these requirements will operate will be contained in regulations to be made by the SoS, which must be consulted on widely (and individual local housing authorities will need to be consulted with if specific determinations are to be made in relation to them). However, as funding for the VRTB is to be derived (at least in part) from these payments, it is expected that details should follow shortly.
Please contact Gayle Monk
The use of large up-front fees and disproportionate deposits has already resulted in significant cost consequences for one care provider.
The government announced on 16 May that it will provide a fund of £400m to cover the costs of removal and replacement of cladding to high rise residential blocks which have failed tests.
Whilst some people are under the impression that preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is simply a case of completing a form and ticking a few boxes, it is about far more than this.
A big fear for some people facing divorce and the inevitable carving up of the matrimonial assets. They seek assurances that such assets will be “ring-fenced” and retained for them.
Thinking about the legal status of being a cohabitant probably isn’t at the top of the ‘to do’ list.
When an individual is thinking about making a gift to another individual, consideration needs to be given to the Potentially Exempt Transfer (PET) trap.
We are now only a few weeks away from the biggest change to data protection laws in over 20 years. Are you compliant?
The tragedy, in this case, is that there were options readily available to the midwives that they could have used. This was not a case of having to go above and beyond.
Arising from the recent Family Division announcement, people who think they are legally divorced may in fact still be married.
The SCCS has issued providers in the scheme a series of updated and new documents in order to assist with their National Minimum Wage review.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.