Paragraph Numbering Adjustments for Housing Rating Rules
This document issues a formal clerical correction to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
It directs that the opening text of regulation 1 be designated as paragraph (1) and requires the re-designation of existing paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3) respectively.
These changes apply to the published version of the statutory instrument under the authority of the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Arguments For
The King's Printer of Acts of Parliament issued this document to ensure the structural accuracy of the statutory instrument's text.
The document states that the amendment is necessary to correctly designate the opening words of regulation 1 as paragraph (1) and re-designate subsequent paragraphs accordingly.
Proponents of clear legislative drafting emphasize that such corrections prevent ambiguity in cross-referencing and statutory interpretation.
Arguments Against
Legal practitioners may note that the necessity for a correction post-publication indicates a failure in the initial proofing process of the 2026 Regulations.
Affected parties, such as local authorities or landlords, may find that mid-implementation clerical changes to numbering systems create temporary confusion in legal documentation or compliance software.
Page 1, regulation 1: The opening words, beginning 'These Regulations may be cited...' should be designated as paragraph (1), and existing paragraphs (1) and (2) re-designated as (2) and (3).
This instruction modifies the formatting of the first regulation of the 2026 instrument.
It assigns the introductory text regarding the title of the regulations as the first paragraph and shifts the numbering of following subsections forward by one digit.
This ensures that every distinct part of the regulation is uniquely identified by a paragraph number.
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