Citation, commencement and application

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Approval of Code of Management Practice (Residential Management) (Service Charges) (England) Order 2016 and shall come into force on 1st June 2016.

(2) This Order applies in relation to the management of residential properties in England only.

Approval of code of practice

2.  With the exception of the section headed ‘RICS guidance notes', "Service Charge Residential Management Code" (ISBN 978-1-78321-141-8), which is to be published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors(2), is approved.

Withdrawal of approval

3.  The Secretary of State withdraws approval of "Service Charge Residential Management Code" (ISBN 978-1-84219-168-2)(3).

Saving and transitional provision

4.  Articles 2 and 3 do not apply for the purposes of section 87(7)(a) and (b) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (use of code in proceedings) in relation to an act or omission alleged to have occurred before this Order comes into force.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

By this Order the Secretary of State approves, subject to the exception mentioned below, a code of practice relating to the management of residential property by landlords and others who discharge the management function. The approved code is the "Service Charge Residential Management Code" (ISBN 978-1-78321-141-8) by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors ("RICS"). The section headed ‘RICS guidance notes' of that code has not been approved as it is not relevant for the purposes of section 87 of the 1993 Act.

By this Order the Secretary of State also withdraws approval for "Service Charge Residential Management Code" (ISBN 978-1-84219-168-2) by the same institution which was given by the Approval of Code of Management Practice (Residential Management) (Service Charges) (England) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/512).

Failure to comply with any provision of any approved code does not of itself render any person liable to any proceedings, but in any proceedings, the codes of practice shall be admissible as evidence and any provision that appears to be relevant to any question arising in the proceedings is taken into account.

The approval and withdrawal of approval provided for in this Order apply to the management of residential properties in England only. By article 4 of this Order, the "Service Charge Residential Management Code" (ISBN 978-1-84219-168-2) continues to have effect for the purposes of proceedings relating to acts or omissions that are alleged to have occurred before this Order comes into force.

No impact assessment has been prepared in relation to this Order. An electronic version of the approved code is available free of charge at www.rics.org. A printed version is also available from RICS at a cost of £20.