Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019
Number 47 of 2019
HOUSING (REGULATION OF APPROVED HOUSING BODIES) ACT 2019
REVISED
Updated to 1 June 2023
This Revised Act is an administrative consolidation of the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019. It is prepared by the Law Reform Commission in accordance with its function under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 (3/1975) to keep the law under review and to undertake revision and consolidation of statute law.
All Acts up to and including the Social Welfare (Child Benefit) Act 2023 (13/2023), enacted 25 May 2023, and all statutory instruments up to and including the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority Superannuation Scheme 2023 (S.I. No. 339 of 2023), made 1 June 2023, were considered in the preparation of this Revised Act.
Disclaimer: While every care has been taken in the preparation of this Revised Act, the Law Reform Commission can assume no responsibility for and give no guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up to date nature of the information provided and does not accept any liability whatsoever arising from any errors or omissions. Please notify any errors, omissions and comments by email to
revisedacts@lawreform.ie.
Number 47 of 2019
HOUSING (REGULATION OF APPROVED HOUSING BODIES) ACT 2019
REVISED
Updated to 1 June 2023
Introduction
This Revised Act presents the text of the Act as it has been amended since enactment, and preserves the format in which it was passed.
Related legislation
Housing Acts 1966 to 2021: this Act is one of a group of Acts included in this collective citation, to be construed together as one (Affordable Housing Act 2021 (25/2021), s. 1(2)). The Acts in this group are:
• Housing Act 1966 (21/1966)
• Housing Act 1969 (16/1969)
• Housing Act 1970 (18/1970)
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1979 (27/1979)
• Housing Act 1984 (1/1984)
• Housing Act 1988 (28/1988), other than ss. 27 and 28
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 (18/1992), other than ss. 29 and 30 and ss. 38(3) and (4)
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997 (21/1997), other than ss. 16, 17 and s. 24(3)
• Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 (33/1998), other than ss. 26 and 27
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 (9/2002), apart from ss. 17-20, 22, 23 and 24 and Schedules 2 and 3
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 (43/2004), other than s. 2
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 (22/2009), other than s. 100
• Housing (Amendment) Act 2013 (22/2013)
• Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), ss. 1(4), 5(3), Schedule 2, Part 1, Schedule 4, paras. 1 and 14 and Schedule 4, para. 16 in so far as they relate to the Housing Act 1966
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 (21/2014)
• Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 (42/2015), ss. 1(3), 15, 85 and 87
• Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (47/2019), s. 67
• Affordable Housing Act 2021 (25/2021)
Annotations
This Revised Act is annotated and includes textual and non-textual amendments, statutory instruments made pursuant to the Act and previous affecting provisions.
An explanation of how to read annotations is available at
www.lawreform.ie/annotations.
Material not updated in this revision
Where other legislation is amended by this Act, those amendments may have been superseded by other amendments in other legislation, or the amended legislation may have been repealed or revoked. This information is not represented in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the amended legislation if one is available.
Where legislation or a fragment of legislation is referred to in annotations, changes to this legislation or fragment may not be reflected in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the legislation referred to if one is available.
A list of legislative changes to any Act, and to statutory instruments from 1972, may be found linked from the page of the Act or statutory instrument at
www.irishstatutebook.ie.
Acts which affect or previously affected this revision
• Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (15/2022)
All Acts up to and including Social Welfare (Child Benefit) Act 2023 (13/2023), enacted 25 May 2023, were considered in the preparation of this revision.
Statutory instruments which affect or previously affected this revision
• The Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority Superannuation Scheme 2023 (S.I. No. 339 of 2023)
• Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (Commencement) Order 2022 (S.I. No. 307 of 2022)
• Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (Commencement) (No. 3) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 728 of 2021)
• Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (Commencement) (No. 2) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 320 of 2021)
• Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (Establishment Day) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 27 of 2021)
• Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (Commencement) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 25 of 2021)
• Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (Commencement) Order 2020 (S.I. No. 188 of 2000)
All statutory instruments up to and including The Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority Superannuation Scheme 2023 (S.I. No. 339 of 2023), made 1 June 2023, were considered in the preparation of this revision.
Number 47 of 2019
HOUSING (REGULATION OF APPROVED HOUSING BODIES) ACT 2019
REVISED
Updated to 1 June 2023
CONTENTS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
Section
1. Short title, collective citation and commencement
PART 2
Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority
8. Establishment of Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority
12. Functions of chief executive
13. Delegation of functions of chief executive
14. Appearance of chief executive before Committee of Public Accounts
15. Accountability of chief executive to other Oireachtas Committees
17. Transfer of employees of Housing Agency to Regulator
23. Administrative cooperation on regulatory matters
24. Information relating to offences, etc.
PART 3
Regulation of AHBs
Chapter 1
Registration
25. Eligibility criteria for application to register as AHB
27. Application for registration
28. Grant or refusal of registration
29. Notice of proposed decision of Regulator to refuse application
30. Right to respond to notice of proposed decision
31. Notice of decision of Regulator
33. Evidential value of entries in register
34. Certain persons deemed to be registered as AHBs
35. Prohibited conduct in relation to registration
Chapter 2
Information and records
36. Power of Regulator to require information and records
Chapter 3
Standards
PART 4
Standards Assessment and Compliance Plans
38. Making a standards assessment
41. Notice of implementation of compliance plan
42. Failure to implement compliance plan
43. Entry on register of particulars of notice of non-implementation
PART 5
Investigation
46. Investigation into affairs of AHB
48. Production of documents and evidence on investigation
50. Investigation report to be evidence
52. Saving for privileged information, etc.
PART 6
Intervention
Chapter 1
Transfer of Certain Dwellings and Protection of AHBs
53. Protection of tenants: requirement to transfer certain dwellings
Chapter 2
Notice to Regulator of Certain Events and Examinership
55. Notice to Regulator of certain events
56. Examinership: modification of Part 10 of Act of 2014 for purposes of application to AHBs
Chapter 3
Cancellation of Registration of AHB
57. Cancellation of registration where AHB requests
58. Cancellation of registration on specified grounds
59. Cancellation of registration where AHB ceases to exist
60. Removal from register following cancellation of registration
PART 7
Appeals
PART 8
Miscellaneous
65. Prohibition on unauthorised disclosure of confidential information
PART 9
Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions
68. Construction of certain references in other Acts or instruments made under Acts
70. Transitional provisions: payment of grant under section 6(2)(d) of Act of 1992
SCHEDULE
Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority
Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 and 2005
Carer’s Leave Act 2001 (No. 19)
Central Bank Act 1971 (No. 24)
Charities Act 2009 (No. 6)
Companies Act 2014 (No. 38)
Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 (No. 8)
Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 (No. 22)
European Parliament Elections Act 1997 (No. 2)
Friendly Societies Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict., c. 25)
Friendly Societies Acts 1896 to 2018
Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 (No. 18)
Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 (No. 22)
Housing Acts 1966 to 2014
Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict., c. 39)
Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1893 to 2018
Iveagh Trust Acts 1899 to 1961
Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004
Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005
Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (No. 20)
Parental Leave Acts 1998 to 2019
Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 (No. 11)
Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 (No. 29)
Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 (No. 45)
Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 (No. 33)
Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 (No. 37)
Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2014
Standards in Public Office Act 2001 (No. 31)
Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39)
Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 to 2014
Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015
Number 47 of 2019
HOUSING (REGULATION OF APPROVED HOUSING BODIES) ACT 2019
REVISED
Updated to 1 June 2023
An Act to provide for the regulation of approved housing bodies for the purposes of protecting certain housing assets provided or managed by such bodies; to establish a body to be known in the Irish language as An tÚdarás Rialála Comhlachtaí Tithíochta Ceadaithe or, in the English language, as the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority and to confer functions on it; to provide for the registration of certain persons as approved housing bodies; to provide for the setting of standards for approved housing bodies relating to governance, financial management, property and asset management and tenancy management and compliance with those standards; to provide for the carrying out of standards assessments and the monitoring of the implementation of compliance plans; to provide for the carrying out of investigations; to make provision in relation to the protection of approved housing bodies; to provide for the application, with modification, of certain provisions of the Companies Act 2014 to approved housing bodies; to provide for the cancellation of registration of approved housing bodies; to provide for the establishment of an Appeals Panel to hear appeals from certain decisions of the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority; for those purposes to amend the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992; and to provide for related matters. [23rd December, 2019]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows: