Two new Statutory Instruments have just come out relating to this Act, and, given that I’m updating my seminar notes about the 2008 Act, I thought I’d share them with you.

The Allocation of Housing (England) (Amendment) (Family Intervention Tenancies) Regulations 2008 deal with the interaction between the new Family Intervention Tenancy (“FIT”)in the 2008 Act and Part 6, Housing Act 1996. In broad terms, Part 6 of the 1996 Act, and the subordinate SIs, deal with the rules and procedure for the allocation of property by local housing authorities.

What the 2008 SI does is to disapply Part 6 in relation to the FIT, so that any local housing authority which offers a FIT is not required to comply with Part 6 and is not making an “allocation”.

I had wondered if there would need to be an amendment to Part 6 (or the subordinate SIs) to deal with the creation of these new types of tenancy. No, is the clear answer.

This SI does not bring FITs into force. That will have to come later. It also has no impact on the policies or procedures of an RSL in relation to any decision to offer a FIT.

The second SI is the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2008. As you’ll all be aware, the 2008 Act abolished the Urban Regeneration Agency, the Commission for New Towns, English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation and, since September 2008, there has been a gradual transfer of the functions of these bodies to the new Homes and Communities Agency. This SI is part of that process and serves to update various Acts of Parliament so as to remove references to these now defunct bodies and replace them with references to the HCA.