§ 498G. —(1) The amount of a common parts grant shall be fixed by the local housing authority when they approve the application, and shall not exceed the appropriate percentage of the eligible expense.
§ (2) The authority shall notify the applicant of the amount of the grant together with the notification under section 498E(1) (notification of estimated expense of relevant works).
§ (3) Where the authority redetermine the amount of the estimated expense under section 498E(2) (new estimate where works cannot be carried out in accordance with original estimate), they shall make such other adjustments relating to the amount of the grant as appear to them to be appropriate; but the amount of the grant shall not be increased beyond the amount which could have been notified when the application was approved if the estimate contained in the application had been of the same amount as the further estimate.
§ (4) Where the authority redetermine the amount of the estimated expense under section 498E(3) (redetermination where additional works prove necessary), the eligible expense under section 498F shall be recalculated and if on the recalculation the amount of the eligible expense is greater than it was at the time when the application was approved, the amount of the grant shall be increased and the applicant notified accordingly.".
§ 7. In section 499(3) of the Housing Act 1985 for "this Part" substitute "the following provisions of this Part down to section 507".
§ 8. In section 511 of the Housing Act 1985 (payment of grants: general), in subsection (3) (b) for "or repairs grant" substitute ", repairs grant or common parts grant".
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9. In section 513 of the Housing Act 1985 (special cases; parsonages, applications by charities, &c.), in subsection (2) (provisions disapplied) after the reference to section 464 omit the word "and" and insert—
so much of section 464A(1) (b) (preliminary conditions for application for common parts grant) as requires the applicant to have a qualifying interest in the premises, and ".
§ 10.—(1) Section 514 of the Housing Act 1985 (power of local housing authority to carry out works with agreement of person by whom application for grant might be made) is amended as follows.
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(2) For subsection (2) (definition of "requisite interest") substitute
(2) The reference in subsection (1) to a person having the requisite interest is, except in the case of a common parts grant, to a person who has an owner's interest in every parcel of land on which the relevant works are to be carried out; and in this subsection "owner's interest" has the same meaning as in section 463(1) (a).
(2A) The reference in subsection (1) to a person having the requisite interest is in the case of a common parts grant to a person who as regard the relevant works either—
and in this subsection 'qualifying interest' 'has the same meaning as in section 464A(1) (b).".
§ 11. In Section 515 of the Housing Act 1985, for subsections (2) and (3) (effect on grant of disposal by applicant of his interest in the property) substitute—
- "(2) Where an application for a grant is approved but before the certified date the applicant ceases to be a person entitled to apply for a grant of that description—
- (a) in the case of an improvement grant, intermediate grant, special grant or repairs grant, no grant shall be paid or, as the case may be, no further instalments shall be paid, and
- (b) in the case of a common parts grant, the local housing authority may refuse to pay the grant or any further instalment,
505 and the authority may demand that any instalment of the grant which has been paid be repaid forthwith, together with interest from the date on which it was paid until repayment at such reasonable rate as the authority may determine. - (3) In subsection (2) 'the certified date' means the date certified by the local housing authority as the date on which the dwelling, house or, as the case may be, the common parts of the building, first become fit for occupation or use after the completion of the relevant works to the satisfaction of the authority.
- (4) For the purposes of subsection (2) an applicant ceases to be a person entitled to apply for a grant, other than a common parts grant, if he—
- (a) ceases to have an owner's interest in every parcel of land on which the relevant works are to be or have been carried out, or
- (b) ceases to be a tenant of the dwelling;
- (5) For the purposes of subsection (2) an applicant ceases to be a person entitled to apply for a common parts grant if he—
- (a) ceases to have a duty to carry out the relevant works, or
- (b) ceases to have power to carry them out or to have a qualifying interest in the building or in a dwelling in the building;
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12. In section 518 of the Housing Act 1985 (meaning of "dwelling for a disabled occupant" and related expressions), for subsection (3) substitute—
(3) In this Part 'improvement'—
- (a) in relation to a dwelling for a disabled occupant, includes the doing of works required for making the dwelling suitable for his accommodation, welfare or employment, and
- (b) in relation to the common parts of a building which includes such a dwelling, includes the doing of works required for making the common parts suitable for use by a disabled occupant of a dwelling.".
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13. Renumber section 519 of the Housing Act 1985 (meaning of "reasonable repair") as subsection (1) of that section and after it insert—
(2) In determining what is reasonable repair' in relation to the common parts of a building, a local housing authority shall have regard to—
and shall disregard the state of internal decorative repair of the building and the dwellings in it.".
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14. In Section 526 of the Housing Act 1985 (the index to Part XV) at the appropriate places insert—
common parts (for the pur- section 498A(2)(b)" poses of common parts grant)
common parts grant sections 460 and 498A
flat (for the purposes of section 498A(2)(a)", common parts grant).'
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Amendment No. 29, in clause 10, page 26, line 9, at end insert—
'(da) the recovery of service charges in respect of the cost of grant-aided works'.
§ Amendment No. 31, in page 83, line 14 [Schedule 2], at end insert—