64.— (1) In this section, in the case of an apartment in respect of which a sublease is granted to the housing authority for the purposes of section 60, a reference to a lease includes a sublease.

(2) Subject to and in accordance with this Part and the Housing Acts 1966 to 2004 and subject to such regulations as may be made under section 77, a housing authority may, subject to subsections (3) and (4), in consideration of the receipt by the housing authority of the purchase money, sell an apartment, of which it is the apartment owner, in a designated apartment complex, in the state of repair and condition existing on the date of sale, to the tenant of the apartment (in this Part referred to as an “apartment purchaser”) by assignment of the lease granted to the housing authority under section 60 by means of an order (in this Part referred to as an “apartment assignment order”), in the prescribed form, made by the housing authority, which shall be expressed and shall operate to vest, on the date specified in the order, the interest specified in the order, in accordance with and subject to the terms and conditions specified in subsection (5) and the terms and conditions of a charging order.

(3) The F53[chief executive] shall not sign the apartment assignment order for the sale to a tenant under this Part of the first apartment in a designated apartment complex where—

(a) the initial selling period has expired, or

(b) he or she is not satisfied that the sales are ready to proceed (within the meaning of section 56 (7)) within 4 weeks of the date of signing the assignment order of at least the minimum number of apartments available for sale in the designated apartment complex, calculated in accordance with subsection (4), or

(c) the number of tenants of the apartments referred to in paragraph (b) who have indicated a willingness to serve as directors of the management company is less than half of the minimum number of apartments calculated in accordance with subsection (4).

(4) The minimum number of apartments for the purposes of subsection (3) (b) includes the first apartment referred to in subsection (3) and is calculated as the greater of—

(a) the minimum number of apartments specified in column (2) of the following Table opposite the entry in column (1) of the class of apartment complex corresponding to the class of the designated apartment complex concerned, or

(b) the minimum number (rounded up to the nearest higher whole number) of tenants represented by the minimum proportion of all apartments specified in column (3) of the following Table opposite the said entry in column (1).

TABLE

(5) The terms and conditions referred to in subsection (2) shall include the following—

(a) that the apartment shall, during the charged period, unless the housing authority gives its prior written consent, be occupied as the normal place of residence of the apartment purchaser or of a member of the apartment purchaser’s household;

(b) that the apartment or any part thereof shall not, during the charged period without the prior written consent of the housing authority, be sold, assigned, let or sublet or otherwise disposed of or mortgaged, charged or alienated, otherwise than by devise or operation of law;

(c) terms and conditions relating to the resale of the apartment under section 76 during the charged period;

(d) such other terms and conditions relating to the sale of an apartment as may be prescribed for the purposes of an apartment assignment order.

(6) A tenant who applies to purchase his or her apartment under this Part shall, on or before signing the apartment assignment order, pay to the housing authority a deposit of an amount determined in accordance with such method as may be prescribed under section 77 which deposit, subject to subsection (7), shall not be refundable if the tenant withdraws from the sale for any reason at any time before the expiration of 6 months from the date on which he or she signs the order.

(7) Where a housing authority does not proceed with the sale of an apartment for any reason, the housing authority shall—

(a) notify the tenant in writing,

(b) refund any deposit paid by the tenant and reimburse the tenant in respect of such reasonable legal expenses as may be incurred by him or her in respect of the proposed purchase of the apartment by him or her under this Part, and

(c) pay to the tenant interest on the amount of the deposit refunded under paragraph (b) at the rate prescribed under section 33 for the period beginning on the date the tenant signed the apartment assignment order and ending on the date on which the housing authority notifies the tenant that it is not proceeding with the purchase.

(8) Save as provided for by any other enactment or regulations made thereunder, the sale of an apartment under this Part to a tenant shall not imply any warranty on the part of the housing authority in relation to the state of repair or condition of the apartment or its fitness for human habitation.

(9) A housing authority shall not proceed with the sale of an apartment under this Part to the tenant thereof—

F54[(a) where—

(i) at any time during the 3 years immediately before applying to the authority to purchase an apartment under this Part, the tenant or a member of his or her household was in arrears of rent, rent contributions, charges, fees or any other moneys due and owing for an accumulated period of 12 weeks or more to a housing authority or an approved body in respect of a dwelling or site to which Chapter 3 of Part 2 of the Act of 2009 relates, and

(ii) subject to subsection (9A), the tenant or the household member has not entered into rescheduling arrangements with the housing authority or approved body concerned for the payment of such arrears, or, having entered into such arrangements, has not, in the opinion of the authority or body, substantially complied with their terms,]

(b) where, on the basis of any structural survey of the apartment complex or of an individual apartment that may be carried out after the date of the designation of the apartment complex under section 55, the authority considers that it is not in the interest of good estate management to proceed with the sale,

(c) where the authority is not satisfied, having regard to the provisions of section 65(5), that the number of existing and prospective apartment purchasers willing to serve as directors of the management company is sufficient to enable the company to function effectively, or

(d) where the designation of the apartment complex for tenant purchase has lapsed under section 55 (3).

F55[(9A) In applying subsection (9)(a)(ii), a housing authority shall disregard the case where the authority or approved body concerned is satisfied that the failure of the tenant or the household member concerned to substantially comply with the terms of the rescheduling arrangements was due to circumstances outside the control of such tenant or household member. ]

(10) Section 211(2) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and section 183 of the Local Government Act 2001 shall not apply to the sale of an apartment to a tenant in accordance with this Part.