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Section 563: Duties of public sector authority disposing of defective dwelling.

Housing Act 1985 · 1985 c. 68View on legislation.gov.uk

Part XVI: ASSISTANCE FOR OWNERS OF DEFECTIVE HOUSING

A public sector authority shall, where a person is to acquire a relevant interest in a defective dwelling on a disposal by the authority, give him notice in writing before the time of the disposal—

specifying the qualifying defect, and
stating that he will not be eligible for assistance under this part in respect of the dwelling.

A public sector authority shall, before they convey a relevant interest in a defective dwelling in pursuance of a contract to a person on whom a notice under subsection (1) has not been served, give him notice in writing—

specifying the qualifying defect,
stating, where the time of disposal of the interest falls after the cut-off date, that he will not be eligible for assistance under this Part, and
stating the effect of subsection (3)

A person on whom a notice under subsection (2) is served—

is not obliged to complete the conveyance before the expiry of the period of six months beginning with the service of that notice on him, and
may within that period withdraw from the transaction by notice in writing to the authority to that effect;

and upon such a notice of withdrawal being given to the authority the parties to the contract are discharged from any obligations in connection with it and any deposit paid shall be repaid.

Where a public sector authority are required to serve a notice under section 124 (landlord's response to notice claiming to exercise right to buy) in respect of a defective dwelling, the notice under subsection (1) shall be served with that notice.

A notice under subsection (1) or (2) shall, (except in the case of a notice under subsection (1) which is served in accordance with subsection (4)), be served at the earliest date at which it is reasonably practicable to do so.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.