Regulation 1 Name, commencement, application and interpretationI1

These Regulations are called the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Wales) Regulations 2003 and shall come into force for the purposes of regulations 1 and 2 on 31st December 2003 and for all other purposes on 1st April 2004.

These Regulations apply only in relation to local authorities in Wales.

In these Regulations any reference to a Part, section or Schedule is a reference to a Part or section of, or Schedule to, the Local Government Act 2003.

In these Regulations—

• F1“the 1993 Act” means the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993;

• “the 1997 Regulations” means the Local Authorities (Capital Finance) Regulations 1997^f1F2;

• F3“associates” has the same meaning as in F4section 136 of the 1993 Act (disposals of dwelling-houses by local authorities);

• F5“charter trustee” means a body constituted in accordance with section 246 of the Local Government Act 1972;

• F6...

• “community council” means a community council or a town council in accordance with section 27 of the Local Government Act 1972;

• “dwelling” means any building or part of a building which is occupied as a dwelling, or is a hostel providing accommodation for persons who, for the purposes of Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (Homelessness)^f2 are homeless, or persons who have a special need for accommodation arising from physical or mental disability, age, infirmity or other special social disability or disadvantage;

• F7“dwelling-house” has the same meaning as in F8section 136 of the 1993 Act;

• “housing land” means any land, house or other building in relation to which the local authority is, or has been, subject to the duty under section 74 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (Duty to keep Housing Revenue Account)^f3;

• F9“introductory standard contract” has the same meaning as in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (see section 16 of that Act);

• F10“introductory tenant” has the same meaning as in chapter 1 of Part V of the Housing Act 1996 (introductory tenancies);

• “local authority” has the meaning given to it in section 23 of the Local Government Act 2003 in so far as it relates to Wales unless otherwise stated in these Regulations F11and includes a corporate joint committee established by regulations made under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 in so far as Part 1 of the Local Government Act 2003 applies to corporate joint committees by virtue of section 23(11) of the 2003 Act; and

• F12“long lease” means a lease for a term of years certain exceeding 21 years other than a lease which is terminable before the end of that term by notice given by or to the landlord;”;

• F13“money market fund” means a collective investment scheme which—

  1. (a)

     F14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  2. (b)

     is authorised or recognised under Part XVII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;

• “qualifying disposal” means a disposal of an interest in housing land which is a qualifying disposal for the purposes of section F15... 136 of the F161993 Act (Disposals of dwelling-houses by local authorities)^f4.

• F17“relevant disposal period” means the period of 5 years ending with the date of the disposal;

• “secure contract” has the same meaning as in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (see section 8 of that Act);

• “secure tenant” has the same meaning as in Part IV of the Housing Act 1985 (secure tenancies and rights of secure tenants); F18...

• F19“securitisation transaction” means a disposal for consideration by a local authority of all or part of its interest in specified revenues, where disposal includes both sale and assignment; and

• “small scale disposal” means a disposal by a local authority of an interest in housing land to any person where—

  1. (a)

     the National Assembly for Wales has given consent to the disposal under section 32 (power to dispose of land held for the purposes of Part II) or 43 (consent required for certain disposals not within section 32) of the Housing Act 1985;

  2. (b)

     it has given that consent subject to the conditions that the Local Authority—

     1. (i)

        takes reasonable steps to ascertain whether the majority of secure tenants and introductory tenants who would be affected by the disposal are not opposed to it; and

     2. (ii)

        is satisfied that, at the time of the disposal, the majority of those tenants are not likely to be opposed to the disposal;

     and

  3. (c)

     the aggregate of the following, namely—

     1. (i)

        the number of dwelling-houses included in the disposal; and

     2. (ii)

        the number of dwelling-houses which, within the relevant disposal period, have been previously disposed of by the local authority to that person, or that person and any associates of that person taken together,

     is not more than 499,

  but for the purposes of this definition, a disposal of any dwelling-house must be disregarded if at the time of the disposal the local authority’s interest in the dwelling house is or was subject to a long lease.