About the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019
This Act provides for the regulation of Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for the purpose of protecting housing assets provided and managed by those organisations, with a particular focus on safeguarding the significant public investment in the delivery of housing by AHBs.
AHBRA’s regulatory powers under the Act include:
- Section 26: The establishment and maintenance of the AHB Register
- Section 26A: The registration of AHBs that were previously deemed to be registered by virtue of section 34(1) of the Act
- Section 28: Registration of new AHBs
- Section 36: The power to require information and records from AHBs, where necessary
- Section 38: The assessment of AHBs against the standards for AHBs
- Sections 39 – 43: The power to require AHBs to submit compliance plans and to approve or reject such plans
- Sections 44 – 52: To conduct an investigation into the affairs of AHBs, where deemed necessary by AHBRA
- Section 53 – 54: Intervention powers for the purposes of the protection of dwellings and AHBs
- Section 57-60: The cancellation of an organisation’s AHB status and the consequential removal of the organisation’s details from the register of AHBs.
Development of AHB Regulation and changes to legislation
The current statutory structure replaced the previous system, which operated under section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992.
The Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 was signed into law on 23 December 2019. All sections/provisions of the Act have been commenced. AHBRA is fully operational, with all functions under the Act now in effect.
The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 (which commenced on 18 November 2024) introduced a number of amendments to the Act. These amendments included:
- The full registration of AHBs that were previously “deemed” registered on the AHB register without those AHBs having to apply for registration.
- Adjustments to the eligibility criteria for organisations applying for registration as new AHBs.
- Amendment of the definition of the “alleviation of housing need” as contained in the 2019 Act
Commencements and Amendments to the 2019 Act
- Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019
- Commencements to date:
- SI 188 of 2020
- SI 25 of 2021
- SI 27 of 2021
- SI 320 of 2021
- SI 728 of 2021
- SI 307 of 2022
- Amendments to the Act:
- Part 12 of the Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022
- Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024