2004 Housing Act
Whilst there are many Housing Acts, the most significant changes in recent times came into being as a direct consequence of the Housing Act 2004 which has now become statute.
Below is a brief summary of that Act:-
The first five parts of the seven-part Act affect private housing and extends the regulatory role of local authorities. The penultimate section concerns the public sector, and the last section concerns supplementary issues. Much of this extensive new legislation paves the way for secondary legislation. The main provisions of the Act are summarised below.
Part 1
A new Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) gives local authorities extended powers to target health and safety issues. The HHSRS replaced the housing fitness regime (Housing Act 1985) and essentially extends the earlier provision's remit to include external issues of health and safety, as well as internal, e.g., noise pollution or leaking gas pipes.
The HHSRS is to be used by local authorities to assess the condition of homes and comprises two categories, which incorporate 29 classes of hazard. Category one hazards oblige local authorities to take action or insist the landlord takes action, to rectify the problem. Where category two hazards are found, local authorities have the discretionary power to act.
New enforcement measures at local authorities' disposal include Improvement Notices on a landlord, Prohibition Orders to enforce the closure of part/all of a building, and, in extreme cases, the demolition of unfit buildings.
Parts 2 & 3
The Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) introduces a mandatory national licensing scheme to raise the standards of some of the highest risk properties. Local housing authorities must license houses of three or more stories that are occupied by five or more people, who make up two or more households.
Local authorities have the discretionary power to make houses exempt from this point of law, e.g., student houses. Converted blocks of flats don't automatically need a license. Similarly, the same discretionary power is applicable when adding to the list houses with problems of anti-social behaviour and/or health and safety (selective licensing).
Part 3 of the Act targets sub-standard private housing and aims to make landlords take more responsibility for the management of both their property and anti-social behaviour perpetrated at or in the neighbourhood of their property. Selective licensing gives local authorities more power over how private properties are managed and maintained. A given selective license will typically apply for five years.
Houses that fail to meet housing fitness standards (refer to the HHSRS above) will not be granted a license. Under the Act, landlords that require but fail to take out a license will be subject to a maximum fine of £20,000 should a local authority seek Court proceedings against them.
Part 4
The Secretary of State has the power to change the definition of 'overcrowding', at any point in the future. The current standard dates back to 1935 and includes kitchens as 'sleeping accommodation,' doesn't count children less than one-year old, and considers children younger than ten-years, as only half a person.
Part 5
Home Information Packs (including Home Condition Reports) require anyone marketing a home to provide key information at the start of selling the property. Anyone selling a property is obliged to pay for a survey of the condition of the premises, including an appraisal of its energy efficiency, prior to marketing the property. The aim is to empower potential buyers with the information to make informed decisions.
The Home Information Packs do not currently apply to sales under Right-to-Buy or the first sale of a new home (providing the warranty is provided).
Part 6
Additional restrictions on the Right-to-Buy aim to prevent the exploitation of the rules for profit. The qualification period for purchase is extended from two to five years, but only for secure tenancies granted after the Act came into force.
New procedures ensure councils have first offer on any future resale that results within ten years of the Right-to-Buy sale, a clause applicable to any successor in title.
Critically, the period for repaying discounts is extended from three to five years and includes a proportion of any appreciation in the property's value, benefiting landlords.
Local authorities have new powers to tackle problems of anti-social behaviour. They can now extend an introductory tenancy by six to eighteen months, refuse a mutual exchange application, and prevent tenants served with Anti-social Behaviour Orders from completing a right-to-buy purchase.
Technical changes will affect the way registered social landlords (RSLs) conduct business. Significantly, there are proposals to enable RSLs to receive relevant information, e.g., from the police in their own right, as enforcers of Anti-social Behaviour Orders. Under current legislation RSLs must demonstrate that they're acting on behalf of a 'relevant authority,' in order to access information.
Controversially, under the Act, the Housing Corporation and the National Assembly for Wales are empowered to pay grants to bodies other than registered social landlords, such as commercial developers and house builders. The stated aim is to develop the potential for more affordable housing. Under the current system, only RSLs can bid for grants. The Housing Corporation is drafting a consultation paper that will detail how the new grant system should be managed. In 1995 the Conservative Government suggested a similar provision for non-RSL bids, but it was abandoned as too 'free market'.
The Act also:
- Requires estate agents to belong to a redress scheme for buyers and sellers (Regulation of Estate Agents).
- Introduces safeguards to Tenancy Deposit Protection through a government-sponsored scheme, to protect tenants.
- Empowers local authorities to bring back into use long-term empty private sector homes, with the use of Empty Dwelling Management Orders.
- Strengthens the rights of residents of mobile home parks, whilst ensuring the industry's regulatory framework helps meet the growing need for quality affordable housing.
- Requires local authorities to assess the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers in their area, and to produce a strategy detailing how these needs will be met.
- Extends the Eligibility for Disabled Facilities Grants to all those occupying caravans as their only or main residence.
- Legislates for a new office of Social Housing Ombudsman for Wales.