Housing Association Guide Part 4 - Appendix 4Statutory Agreements
Contents
1.01Statutory Approvals and Agreements – in undertaking scheme development for social housing provision, depending on the type of proposals, various Statutory Agreements may be required. This Appendix gives some general guidance on Agreement likely to be encountered by Associations.
1.02Charges, Fees and Legal Costs - A condition of some Statutory Agreements referred to below, may be that the Association pays the supervision or administration charges of the Statutory Authority. Normally the Agreement will incorporate a clause concerning the charges involved and require settlement on execution of the Agreement.
1.03Legal Costs - In addition to paragraph 1.02 above, the Statutory Authority may require the Association to meet the Authority’s legal expenses incurred in preparing the Agreement. These legal costs are either invoiced separately to the Association or incorporated in the Agreement. The Association may also incur legal expenses of its own in entering into the Agreement.
1.04Eligibility - Any charges, fees, or legal costs associated with Statutory Agreements should form part of the estimated works costs for the scheme.
2 Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 19802.01 Article 24(1) of the Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 - requires in relation to certain new building that no work may be done until a sum specified by the Roads Service of the Department for Regional Development (DRD), in respect of the street works has been paid or secured by a person having an estate in the land.
2.02 Roads Service - has agreed, however, that exemption from this provision can be given to those Housing Associations registered with the Department for Social Development (DSD) under Article 16 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 by completion of an appropriate agreement under Article 32 of the Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, for each project to which Article 24 would otherwise apply. For this purpose a modified form of the model Agreement used by the Roads Service has been drawn up (see Annexes A1 and A2). Please note that this form of the Agreement is applied for a private street determined on or after 1 May 2001.
2.03 In order to complete an Agreement – for a housing project being undertaken by a registered Housing Association, Roads Service will require the following details from the Association:
a. The date of registration of the Association with the DSD;
b. A copy of the scheme approval form i.e. SN2/TA2;
c. Confirmation of whether the estate is freehold or leasehold; and
d. 6 x 1:1250 scale location plans showing coloured blue the street works with the estate which is to be included in the Agreement surrounded by a red line.
[Note: the Agreement will then be drawn up by the Roads Service and should be “sealed by the Association” in accordance with its rules.]
2.04The performance of an agreement – will be secured by the financial arrangements provided for Housing Associations under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992. Should an Association default on its liabilities under the Agreement, the Roads Service may invoke its powers under paragraph 8 and request that the costs of completing the works be diverted to it from grants due to the Association from the NIHE (DPG).
3.01Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) – as a condition of laying new cables to provide electricity to a New Build scheme, may require:
a. The acquisition of a small parcel of the Association’s land upon which to build a sub-station; and/or
b. The right, in perpetuity, to enter onto the Association’s land to lay, maintain or replace the cables serving the scheme.
3.02In either case the consideration paid by NIE will normally be a nominal sum and the Association is not required to obtain an independent valuation. However, any consideration or premium paid by NIE should be treated as a non-public capital contribution. Any annual rent paid for an easement or wayleave is retained by the Association.
3.03Consent under Article 13 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 – the Association will require the consent of the DSD before entering into any contract or deed for the disposal of land. This should be done by submitting the contract or deed and the accompanying plan, showing the route of cables and the location of any sub-station site, to the DSD prior to execution. The contract or deed should make provision for endorsement by the DSD as follows:
“The Department for Social Development hereby consents under Article 13 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 to the within disposal.
Signed
Senior Officer of the Department for Social Development
Dated this day of 20 .”
3.04Other Provisions - the contract or deed should also provide, inter alia, that the NIE must:
a. Not use the sub-station for any other purpose except in connection with the provision of electricity;
b. Keep the sub-station in good repair and condition; and
c. Indemnify the Association from all claims arising from any loss, damage or injury caused as a consequence of the erection, repair, maintenance or use of the sub-station provided that such actions do not arise through negligence or fault of the Association.
4 Supply of Water, Gas and Telecom Cables4.01Water Service, Phoenix Gas and BT, when required to provide mains, pipes or cables - or conduits - carrying their services, may also require the rights as described above. In such cases the DSD’s requirements are the same as set out in 3.00 above.
5 Sewers in connection with New Developments
5.01The statutory obligations of the Department of Regional Development (DRD) Water Service are set out in the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 (as amended 1993). Under Article 3 of the Order DRD has a duty to provide sewers for draining domestic sewage and surface water. However this duty is qualified by Article 4, which states that Article 3 does not require DRD to do anything that is not practicable at a reasonable cost.
5.02Article 17 of the 1993 Order makes provision for DRD to enter into an agreement to adopt sewers laid by a third party. Within this Article, 17(4) provides for Agreements in relation to provision, at the expense of the applicant, of works in connection with the service applied for and for terms and conditions in relation to the adoption of such work.
5.03Water Service has procedures for the adoption of sewers and pumping stations in private developments. With regard to the adoption of new developments DRD recognises that it has a responsibility to advise developers of the terms and conditions that may apply to the provision of facilities at the earliest stage in the development process.
5.04The Planning Application consultation process is the first formal opportunity that DRD has to indicate the availability of services to prospective developers and there is an onus on the developer to contact Water Service as soon as possible in order to ascertain whether facilities can be provided, and if so, the terms and conditions that DRD will apply.
5.05Developers should consult with Water Service well in advance of full planning permission being obtained and prior to the preparation of detailed plans. This should make the approval of plans a relatively smooth process and therefore avoid unnecessary delay.
5.06An example of the Article 17 Agreement has been provided (see Annex B). Please note that this example relates to the provision of sewers. If a development requires the construction of a pumping station a separate Article 17 for the pumping station is required.
|
