Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009

25

Chapter 4 tenancy agreement.

25.— (1) A housing authority may allocate a dwelling to which this Chapter applies to a qualified tenant in accordance with section 22.

(2) The provider shall, subject to the terms and conditions of the rental accommodation availability agreement enter into a tenancy agreement (in this Act referred to as a “Chapter 4 tenancy agreement”) with the qualified tenant to whom the dwelling concerned is allocated.

(3) A dwelling to which this Chapter applies which is the subject of a Chapter 4 tenancy agreement shall not be construed as a dwelling let by or to a public authority for the purposes of section 3(2)(c) of the Act of 2004.

(4) A Chapter 4 tenancy agreement shall be in writing, for such period as may be specified therein, and shall include the following particulars relating to the parties to the tenancy, the tenancy and the dwelling concerned:

(a) the address of the dwelling;

(b) the name of the tenant;

(c) the name and address for correspondence of the provider and of the housing authority;

(d) the name and address for correspondence of the provider’s authorised agent (if any);

(e) if the provider or his or her authorised agent, as the case may be, is a company, the registered number and registered office of the company;

(f) a description of the dwelling;

(g) the date of commencement of the tenancy;

(h) where the tenancy is for a fixed term, the period of that term.

(5) A Chapter 4 tenancy agreement shall, in addition to the obligations imposed under Part 2 of the Act of 2004, include terms and conditions relating to—

(a) occupation of the dwelling,

(b) the payment by the qualified tenant to the housing authority of an amount specified in the tenancy agreement (in this Act referred to as the “rent contribution”) at such times as may be specified therein, and

(c) termination of the tenancy for—

(i) failure to pay the rent contribution in accordance with the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement,

(ii) breach of the terms and conditions relating to occupation of the dwelling under paragraph (a), or

(iii) knowingly permitting a person, against whom an excluding order under section 3 of the Act of 1997 or an interim excluding order under section 4 of that Act is in force in respect of the dwelling concerned, to enter the dwelling in breach of the excluding order or interim excluding order, as the case may be.

(6) (a) Where a qualified tenant does any of the things specified in subsection (5) (c), he or she shall have failed to comply with the obligations of the tenancy for the purposes of section 67 of the Act of 2004.

(b) Where it comes to the notice of the housing authority that a tenant is doing or has done any of the things specified in subsection (5) (c) or is or was behaving in a way that is anti-social in breach of the obligation specified in section 16(h) of the Act of 2004, the housing authority may notify the provider in writing regarding the failure to comply with the said obligations.

(c) A provider, having received notification from the housing authority under paragraph (b), shall, within such period as may be prescribed under section 24 (5) (e), if the provider has not already done so under section 67 of the Act of 2004, serve a notice of termination on the qualified tenant in accordance with subsection (2) of the said section 67.

(7) Where a provider serves a notice of termination on a qualified tenant pursuant to a notice from a housing authority under subsection (6) (b), the provider shall give a copy of the notice to the housing authority as soon as practicable thereafter.

(8) Where the provider intends to serve notice of termination on a qualified tenant in accordance with the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement, other than pursuant to a notice from the housing authority under subsection (6) (b), the provider shall give notice in writing to the housing authority not less than 14 days before serving the notice of termination on the qualified tenant.

(9) Where the housing authority intends to apply to the District Court for an excluding order against a person under section 3(2) of the Act of 1997, in respect of a dwelling the subject of a Chapter 4 tenancy agreement, the housing authority shall give notice in writing to the provider of its intention to apply not less than 14 days before making the application.

(10) The rent contribution shall be determined by a housing authority in accordance with a rent scheme under section 31.

(11) A housing authority may reduce the rent contribution payable under a Chapter 4 tenancy agreement, for a specified period of the tenancy, where the costs of the accommodation to the tenant before the tenancy agreement was entered into were substantially lower than the costs under the tenancy agreement, resulting in hardship to the household.