Regulation 3 Interpretation – general provisions

In these Regulations—

• “the 2004 Act” means the Housing Act 2004;

• “appropriate local land charges register” means the register described in section 4 of the Local Land Charges Act 1975^f1;

• “approved certification scheme” means a certification scheme approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 37 of these Regulations and from which such approval has not been withdrawn under regulation 39;

• “asset rating” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007^f2;

• “the Chief Land Registrar” means the person appointed by the Lord Chancellor under section 99(3) of the Land Registration Act 2002^f3;

• “conservation area consent” means the consent described in section 74(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990^f4;

• “developer” means a person who has built or converted, or is building or converting the property;

• “edited information document” means, where the Chief Land Registrar has designated a document an exempt information document, the edited copy of that document lodged under rule 136(2)(b) or 138(4) of the Land Registration Rules 2003^f5;

• “energy performance certificate” means a certificate which complies with regulation 11(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 or regulation 17E of the Building Regulations 2000^f6;

• “exempt information document” means the original and copies of a document so designated under rule 136(3) of the Land Registration Rules 2003;

• “first point of marketing” means the time described in regulation 4;

• “home condition report” means a document which complies with Schedule 10;

• “home information pack” in relation to a property, means—

  1. (a)

     where a duty arises under section 155(1) of the 2004 Act, the home information pack intended by the responsible person^f7 to be the one required by that provision; and

  2. (b)

     where a duty arises under section 159(2) of that Act, the home information pack intended by the person to whom that section applies to be the one required by that provision;

• “home information pack index” means the document required by regulation 9(a);

• “home inspector” means a person who is a member of an approved certification scheme;

• “individual register” means the register so named in rule 2 of the Land Registration Rules 2003, the contents and arrangement of which are described in rules 3 and 4 of those Rules;

• “interim energy assessment” means the document required by regulation 9(c);

• “lease” means a long lease except in regulation 9(j), regulation 27(b)(i), paragraph 3(l) of Schedule 5 and paragraph 3(a) of Schedule 6^f8;

• “listed building consent” means a consent under section 8(1), (2) or (3) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990^f9;

• “occupant” includes a potential occupant;

• “pack document” means a document (or part of a document) required or authorised by these Regulations to be included in the home information pack;

• “planning permission” means a permission (granted or deemed to be granted) under Part 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990^f10;

• “predicted energy assessment” means the document required by regulation 9(d);

• “premises” includes buildings and land;

• “property” means the residential property in respect of which a duty arises under section 155(1) or 159(2) of the 2004 Act^f11;

• “property interest” means the freehold interest (including a freehold estate in commonhold land) or the leasehold interest in the property that the seller is proposing to sell^f12;

• “recommendation report” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007;

• “records” includes documents, registers, files and archives, kept in any form;

• “register of title” means the register kept by the Chief Land Registrar pursuant to section 1 of the Land Registration Act 2002;

• “registered estate” means a legal estate the title to which is entered in the register of title, other than a charge the title to which is entered in that register;

• “sale” includes the potential sale of a property interest^f13;

• “sale statement” means the document required by regulation 9(e);

• “search” means an inspection or investigation (whether manual or electronic) of records;

• “service charge” has the same meaning as in section 18 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985^f14;

• “title plan” means the plan so named in rule 5(a) of the Land Registration Rules 2003; and

• “year” means a period of 12 months.

In these Regulations, any expression relating to commonhold land must be construed in accordance with—

• and in relation to commonhold land, references to common parts are to those that relate to the property and the commonhold of which the property forms part.

For the purposes of these Regulations—

In these Regulations, references to the amendment or revision of a document include its modification or variation.

In these Regulations, references to a number of days, months or years are to a consecutive period of days or months.