Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Houses in Multiple Occupation (Charges for Registration Schemes) Regulations 1998 and shall come into force on the twenty eighth day after the day on which they are made.

Interpretation and application

2.-(1) In these Regulations-

"the Act" means the Housing Act 1985(2);

"control provisions", "local housing authority" and "registration scheme" have the same meanings as in Part XI of the Act(3);

"house" means a house in multiple occupation within the meaning of that Part or, as the circumstances of the case require, a building or part of a building intended to be used as such a house.

(2) These Regulations apply to registration schemes containing control provisions made under Part XI of the Act as amended by the Housing Act 1996.

Power to charge in respect of registration schemes for houses in multiple occupation containing control provisions

3.-(1) A local housing authority may impose a charge in respect of their dealing with an application for the first registration, or the renewal of the registration, of a house in pursuance of control provisions contained in a registration scheme.

(2) A charge imposed under these Regulations is payable by the person making an application for the first registration, or the renewal of the registration, of the house, at the time of the making of the application.

Amount of charge

4.-(1) The amount of a charge on the application for the first registration of a house is to be at the local housing authority's discretion, subject to a maximum amount of £60 multiplied by the number of habitable rooms, and for the purposes of this paragraph a room is habitable if it is of a type normally used in the locality as a living room or a bedroom.

(2) The amount of a charge on an application for the renewal of the registration of a house is half the charge that would then have been payable on an application for the first registration of that house.

(3) Where-

(a)a house in multiple occupation has been or is registered under a scheme and a new registration scheme is made which applies to that house, and

(b)in the five year period prior to the date the new scheme comes into force, a charge has been paid to the local housing authority on the application for the first registration or for the renewal of it, or a fee has been paid to the local housing authority on its registration under a previous scheme in accordance with the Houses in Multiple Occupation (Fees for Registration Schemes) Order 1997(4),the amount of the charge payable shall be the amount that would otherwise be payable in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2), less the aggregate of the charges and fees so paid.

Revocation and Saving

5.-(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Houses in Multiple Occupation (Charges for Registration Schemes) Regulations 1991(5) are hereby revoked.

(2) Those Regulations shall remain in force in relation to registration schemes made under Part XI of the Act prior to its amendment by the Housing Act 1996.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations enable local housing authorities to make charges for dealing with applications for first registration of houses in multiple occupation and applications for renewal of registrations where a registration scheme made under Part XI of the Housing Act 1985 as amended by the Housing Act 1996 contains control provisions preventing multiple occupation without registration.

The amount which may be charged is at the discretion of the authority subject to a maximum of £60 multiplied by the number of rooms of a type normally used in the locality as a living room or a bedroom. The charge which may be made on renewal is half the charge that would then have been payable on an application for first registration of the house.

Where a house which is required to be registered under a new registration scheme was registered under a previous registration scheme, any charge paid under the Houses in Multiple Occupation (Charges for Registration Schemes) Regulations 1991 or under these Regulations or a fee paid under the Houses in Multiple Occupation (Fees for Registration Schemes) Order 1997 in the five year period prior to the date the new scheme comes into force shall be deducted from the amount otherwise payable.

The Houses in Multiple Occupation (Charges for Registration Schemes) Regulations 1991 are revoked with savings for registration schemes made under Part XI of the Housing Act 1985 prior to its amendment by the Housing Act 1996. Section 70(4) of that Act provides that these registration schemes shall cease to have effect at the end of two years after the amendments came into force, that is on 3rd March 1999.