Citation, commencement and application

1. —(1) This Order may be cited as The Housing (Empty Dwelling Management Orders) (Prescribed Exceptions and Requirements) (England) Order 2006 and shall come into force on 6th April 2006.

(2) This Order shall apply in England only.

Interpretation

2. In this Order “the Act” means the Housing Act 2004.

Prescribed exceptions

3. For the purposes of section 134(1)(b) of the Act a dwelling falls within a prescribed exception if —

(a) it has been occupied solely or principally by the relevant proprietor( 2 ) and is wholly unoccupied because—

(i) he is temporarily resident elsewhere;

(ii) he is absent from the dwelling for the purpose of receiving personal care by reason of old age, disablement, illness, past or present alcohol or drug dependence or past or present mental disorder;

(iii) he is absent from the dwelling for the purpose of providing, or better providing, personal care for a person who requires such care by reason of old age, disablement, illness, past or present alcohol or drug dependence or past or present mental disorder; or

(iv) he is a serving member of the armed forces and he is absent from the dwelling as a result of such service;

(b) it is used as a holiday home (whether or not it is let as such on a commercial basis) or is otherwise occupied by the relevant proprietor or his guests on a temporary basis from time to time;

(c) it is genuinely on the market for sale or letting;

(d) it is comprised in an agricultural holding within the meaning of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986( 3 ) or a farm business tenancy within the meaning of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995( 4 );

(e) it is usually occupied by an employee of the relevant proprietor in connection with the performance of his duties under the terms of his contract of employment;

(f) it is available for occupation by a minister of religion as a residence from which to perform the duties of his office;

(g) it is subject to a court order freezing the property of the relevant proprietor;

(h) it is prevented from being occupied as a result of a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings;

(i) it is mortgaged, where the mortgagee, in right of the mortgage, has entered into and is in possession of the dwelling; or

(j) the person who was the relevant proprietor of it has died and six months has not elapsed since the grant of representation was obtained in respect of such person.

Prescribed requirements

4. —(1) For the purpose of section 134(2)(e) of the Act the prescribed requirements with which a local housing authority must comply are that—

(a) it must make reasonable efforts to establish from the relevant proprietor whether he considers that any of the exceptions contained in article 3 apply to the dwelling;

(aa) it has—

(i) notified the relevant proprietor in writing of its decision to make an application under section 134 of the Act to the residential property tribunal for authorisation of an interim empty dwelling management order no less than 3 months before it makes such an application, or

(ii) made all reasonable efforts to comply with subparagraph (aa)(i) before the commencement of that 3 month period

(b) it must provide to the appropriate tribunal—

(i) details of the efforts they have made to notify the relevant proprietor that they are considering making an interim empty dwelling management order in respect of his dwelling, as required under section 133(3)(a) of the Act;

(ii) details of the enquiries they have made to ascertain what steps (if any) the relevant proprietor is taking, or is intending to take, to secure that the dwelling is occupied, as required under section 133(3)(b) of the Act;

(iii) details of any advice and assistance they have provided to the relevant proprietor with a view to the relevant proprietor securing that the dwelling is occupied;

(iv) all information they have that suggests that the dwelling may fall within one of the exceptions described in article 3, whether available from the authority’s own enquiries or from representations made to it by the relevant proprietor; ...

(v) the classification of the dwelling for council tax purposes under the Local Government Finance Act 1992( 5 ); ...

(vi) all information they have that suggests that the dwelling has been causing a nuisance for the community; and

(vii) all information they have that suggests that the community supports the proposed making of the interim empty dwelling management order by the local housing authority; and

(c) where the relevant proprietor—

(i) has undertaken or is undertaking repairs, maintenance or improvement works; or

(ii) has applied to a local planning authority or other authority for permission to make structural alterations or additions to the dwelling and he awaits the decision of a relevant authority on the application,

• it must give reasons to the tribunal why it considers that an empty dwelling management order is required to secure occupation of the dwelling.

(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(c)(ii) a relevant authority is—

(a) the authority to whom the relevant proprietor has made the application; or,

(b) where that authority has made a decision against which the relevant proprietor or another person has appealed, the person or body that determines the appeal.