Housing Bill

House of Commons

Session 2003 - 04
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Housing Bill

Housing Bill
Part 7 — Supplementary and final provisions
134

(i)
it is occupied by two or more households who share one or
more basic amenities;
(ii)
it is a converted building and is occupied by two or more
households who are not sharing such amenities but are
occupying living accommodation not consisting of self-
5
contained flats.

Paragraphs (d) and (e) are not applicable in the case of a converted block of
flats to which section 193 applies.
(2)
But for any purposes of this Act (other than those of Part 1) a building or part
of a building within subsection (1) is not a house in multiple occupation if it is
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listed in Schedule 9.
(3)
The appropriate national authority may by regulations—
(a)
make such amendments of this section and sections 192 to 195 as the
authority considers appropriate with a view to securing that any
building or part of a building of a description specified in the
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regulations is or is not to be a house in multiple occupation for any
specified purposes of this Act;
(b)
make such consequential amendments of any provision of this Act, or
any other enactment, as the authority considers appropriate.
(4)
Regulations under subsection (3) may frame any description by reference to
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any matters or circumstances whatever.
(5)
In this section—

“basic amenities” means—
(a)
a toilet,
(b)
personal washing facilities, or
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(c)
cooking facilities;

“converted building” means a house, hostel, self-contained flat or other
relevant building which, having regard to the layout of the living
accommodation contained in it, is not being used for the purpose for
which it was constructed;
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“enactment” includes an enactment comprised in subordinate legislation
(within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30);

“self-contained flat” has the same meaning as in clause 192.
192
HMOs: houses and other relevant buildings
(1)
This section sets out what are relevant buildings for the purposes of section
35
191(1).
(2)
Each of the following is a relevant building—
(a)
a house (see subsection (3)),
(b)
a hostel (see subsections (4) and (5)),
(c)
a self-contained flat (see subsection (6)),
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(d)
a converted block of flats to which section 193 applies, and
(e)
any building or part of a building of a description specified for the
purposes of this section in regulations made by the appropriate
national authority.
(3)
For the purposes of this section—
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135

(a)
where a building is divided horizontally, the flats or other units into
which it is divided are not houses;
(b)
where a building is divided vertically, the units into which it is divided
may be houses;
(c)
where a building is not structurally detached, it is not a house if a
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material part of it lies above or below the remainder of the structure;
and
(d)
where a building or a part of a building contains self-contained flats it
may be a house if it also contains some other living accommodation.
(4)
For the purposes of this section “hostel” includes—
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(a)
any building or part of a building that operates as a hostel (whatever
the name by which it is called), and
(b)
a women’s refuge,

and may include a house, or a building or part of a building which contains
self-contained flats if it also contains some other living accommodation.
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(5)
In subsection (4) “women’s refuge” means a building or part of a building
managed by a voluntary organisation and used wholly or mainly for the
temporary accommodation of persons who have left their homes as a result
of—
(a)
physical violence or mental abuse, or
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(b)
threats of such violence or abuse,

from persons to whom they are or were married or with whom they are or were
co-habiting.
(6)
For the purposes of this section a “self-contained flat” means a separate set of
premises (whether or not on the same floor)—
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(a)
which forms part of a building;
(b)
either the whole or a material part of which lies above or below some
other part of the building; and
(c)
in which all three basic amenities are available for the exclusive use of
its occupants.
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(7)
In this section “basic amenities” has the same meaning as in section 191.
193
HMOs: certain converted blocks of flats
(1)
For the purposes of this section a “converted block of flats” means a building
or part of a building which—
(a)
has been converted into, and
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(b)
consists of,

self-contained flats.
(2)
This section applies to a converted block of flats if—
(a)
building work undertaken in connection with the conversion did not
comply with the appropriate building standards and still does not
40
comply with them; and
(b)
less than two-thirds of the self-contained flats are owner-occupied.
(3)
In subsection (2) “appropriate building standards” means—
(a)
in the case of a converted block of flats—

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136

(i)
on which building work was completed before 1st June 1992 or
which is dealt with by regulation 20 of the Building Regulations
1991 (S.I. 1991/2768), and
(ii)
which would not have been exempt under those Regulations,

building standards equivalent to those imposed, in relation to a
5
building or part of a building to which those Regulations applied, by
those Regulations as they had effect on 1st June 1992; and
(b)
in the case of any other converted block of flats, the requirements
imposed at the time in relation to it by regulations under section 1 of the
Building Act 1984 (c. 55).
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(4)
For the purposes of subsection (2) a flat is “owner-occupied” if is is occupied—
(a)
by a person who has a lease of the flat which has been granted for a
term of more than 21 years,
(b)
by a person who has the freehold estate in the converted block of flats,
or
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(c)
by a member of the household of a person within paragraph (a) or (b).
(5)
The fact that this section applies to a converted block of flats (with the result
that it is a relevant building for the purposes of section 191(1)), does not affect
the status of the flats in the block, or (if appropriate) any other dwelling in the
block, as relevant buildings for those purposes.
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(6)
In this section “self-contained flat” has the same meaning as in section 192.
194
HMOs: persons not forming a single household
(1)
This section sets out when persons are to be regarded as not forming a single
household for the purposes of section 191(1).
(2)
Persons are to be regarded as not forming a single household unless—
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(a)
they are all members of the same family, or
(b)
their circumstances are circumstances of a description specified for the
purposes of this section in regulations made by the appropriate
national authority.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) a person is a member of the same family
30
as another person if—
(a)
those persons are married to each other or live together as husband and
wife (or in an equivalent relationship in the case of persons of the same
sex); or
(b)
one of them is the parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother,
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sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the other.
(4)
For those purposes—
(a)
a relationship by marriage shall be treated as a relationship by blood;
(b)
a relationship of the half-blood shall be treated as a relationship of the
whole blood; and
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(c)
the stepchild of a person shall be treated as his child.
(5)
Regulations under subsection (2)(b) may, in particular, secure that a group of
persons are to be regarded as forming a single household only where (as the
regulations may require) each member of the group has a prescribed
relationship, or at least one of a number of prescribed relationships, to any one
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or more of the others.

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(6)
In subsection (5) “prescribed relationship” means any relationship of a
description specified in the regulations.
195
HMOs: persons treated as occupying premises as only or main residence
(1)
This section sets out when persons are to be treated for the purposes of section
191(1) as occupying a building or part of a building as their only or main
5
residence.
(2)
A person is to be treated as so occupying a building or part of a building if it is
occupied by the person—
(a)
as the person’s residence for the purpose of undertaking a full-time
course of further or higher education;
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(b)
as a women’s refuge, or
(c)
in any other circumstances which are circumstances of a description
specified for the purposes of this section in regulations made by the
appropriate national authority.
Other general interpretation provisions
15
196
Meaning of “appropriate national authority”, “local housing authority” etc.
(1)
In this Act “the appropriate national authority” means—
(a)
in relation to England, the Secretary of State; and
(b)
in relation to Wales, the National Assembly for Wales.
(2)
In this Act “local housing authority” means, in relation to England—
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(a)
a unitary authority;
(b)
a district council so far as it is not a unitary authority;
(c)
a London borough council;
(d)
the Common Council of the City of London (in its capacity as a local
authority);
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(e)
the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple or the Under-Treasurer of the
Middle Temple (in his capacity as a local authority); and
(f)
the Council of the Isles of Scilly.
(3)
In subsection (2) “unitary authority” means—
(a)
the council of a county so far as it is the council for an area for which
30
there are no district councils;
(b)
the council of any district comprised in an area for which there is no
county council.
(4)
In this Act “local housing authority” means, in relation to Wales, a county
council or a county borough council.
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(5)
References in this Act to “the local housing authority”, in relation to land, are
to the local housing authority in whose district the land is situated.
(6)
References in this Act to the district of a local housing authority are to the area
of the council concerned, that is to say—
(a)
in the case of a unitary authority, the area or district;
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(b)
in the case of a district council so far as it is not a unitary authority, the
district;

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(c)
in the case of an authority within subsection (1)(c) to (f), the London
borough, the City of London, the Inner or Middle Temple or the Isles of
Scilly (as the case may be); and
(d)
in the case of a Welsh county council or a county borough council, the
Welsh county or county borough.
5
(7)
Section 618 of the Housing Act 1985 (c. 68) (committees and members of
Common Council of City of London) applies in relation to this Act as it applies
in relation to that Act.
197
Meaning of “lease”, “tenancy”, “occupier” and “owner” etc.
(1)
In this Act “lease” and “tenancy” have the same meaning.
10
(2)
Both expressions include—
(a)
a sub-lease or sub-tenancy; and
(b)
an agreement for a lease or tenancy (or sub-lease or sub-tenancy).
(3)
The expressions “lessor” and “lessee” and “landlord” and “tenant” and
references to letting, to the grant of a lease or to covenants or terms, are to be
15
construed accordingly.
(4)
In this Act “lessee” includes a statutory tenant of the premises; and references
to a lease or to a person to whom premises are let are to be construed
accordingly.
(5)
In this Act any reference to a person who is a tenant under a lease with an
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unexpired term of 3 years or less includes a statutory tenant as well as a tenant
under a yearly or other periodic tenancy.
(6)
In this Act “occupier”, in relation to premises, means a person who—
(a)
occupies the premises as a residence, and
(b)
(subject to the context) so occupies them whether as a tenant or other
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person having an estate or interest in the premises or as a licensee;

and related expressions are to be construed accordingly.
This subsection does not apply for the purposes of Part 5 or sections 177 and
178.
(7)
In this Act “owner”, in relation to premises—
30
(a)
means a person (other than a mortgagee not in possession) who is for
the time being entitled to dispose of the fee simple of the premises
whether in possession or in reversion; and
(b)
includes also a person holding or entitled to the rents and profits of the
premises under a lease of which the unexpired term exceeds 3 years.
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(8)
In this Act “person having an estate or interest”, in relation to premises,
includes a statutory tenant of the premises.
(9)
In this Act “licence”, in the context of a licence to occupy premises—
(a)
includes a licence which is not granted for a consideration, but
(b)
excludes a licence granted as a temporary expedient to a person who
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entered the premises as a trespasser (whether or not, before the grant of
the licence, another licence to occupy those or other premises had been
granted to him);

and related expressions are to be construed accordingly.