Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015

33.

Amendment of section 96 of Act of 2000 - provision of social and affordable housing, etc.

33. (1) Section 96 (inserted by section 3 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002) of the Act of 2000 is amended—

(a) in subsection (2), by inserting “prior to the lodgement of a commencement notice within the meaning of Part II of the Building Control Regulations 1997,” after “to which the application relates,”,

(b) in subsection (3)(b) —

(i) by deleting subparagraphs (ii) and (iii),

(ii) by substituting for subparagraph (iv) the following:

“(iv) the transfer to the ownership of the planning authority, or to the ownership of persons nominated by the authority in accordance with this Part, of houses on any other land within the functional area of the planning authority of such number and description as may be specified in the agreement,”,

(iii) by inserting after subparagraph (iv) the following:

“(iva) the grant to the planning authority of a lease under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2014 of houses on the land which is subject to the application for permission, or on any other land within the functional area of the planning authority, of such number and description as may be specified in the agreement,”,

(iv) by deleting subparagraphs (v) and (vi),

(v) by substituting for subparagraph (viii) the following:

“(viii) a combination of the doing of 2 or more of the things referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iva),”,

and

(vi) by substituting for all the words from “but, subject, in every case” to the end of the paragraph, the following:

“but, subject, in every case, to the provision that is made under this paragraph resulting in the aggregate of the net monetary value of the property transferred, or the reduction in rent payable over the term of a lease referred to in paragraph (iva) (excluding any reduction for maintenance, management and void periods specified in such lease), by virtue of the agreement being equivalent to the net monetary value, that is to say, the open market value less the existing use value, of the land that the planning authority would receive if the agreement solely provided for a transfer of land under paragraph (a).”,

(c) by substituting for subsection (3)(d) the following:

“(d) Where houses are to be transferred to the planning authority in accordance with an agreement under paragraph (b), the price of such houses shall be determined on the basis of—

(i) the site cost of the houses (calculated in accordance with subsection (6) ), and

(ii) the costs, including normal construction and development costs and profit on those costs, calculated at open market rates that would have been incurred by the planning authority had it retained an independent builder to undertake the works, including the appropriate share of any common development works, as agreed between the authority and the developer.”,

(d) in subsection (3)(e), by substituting “land or houses” for “land, houses or sites” and “the houses” for “the houses or sites”,

(e) in subsection (3)(f), by deleting “or sites” and by inserting “, or to be the subject of a lease,” after “to be transferred”,

(f) in subsection (6)(b), by substituting “on the date on which the permission referred to in subsection (2) is granted” for “on the date of the transfer of ownership of the land to the planning authority concerned”,

(g) in subsection (7)(a) —

(i) by inserting after subparagraph (i) the following:

“(ia) in the case of an agreement referred to in subsection (3)(b)(iva), the number of houses and the rent payable under such an agreement;”,

and

(ii) by deleting subparagraph (ii),

(h) in subsection (8), by inserting “the planning authority,” after “the date of the grant of permission,”, and

(i) in subsection (9), by deleting “or sites” in each place.

(2) Where, on the date of the coming into operation of subsection (1), a permission has been granted subject to a condition referred to in section 96(2) of the Act of 2000 but a commencement notice within the meaning of Part II of the Building Control Regulations 1997 has not been lodged, any existing agreement under section 96 of the Act of 2000 may be amended prior to the lodgement of such commencement notice with the consent of all parties to such agreement provided that the agreement so amended complies with the provisions of section 96 on the date on which the agreement is amended.

(3) Part V of the Act of 2000 applies to an agreement amended in accordance with subsection (2).