The Housing (Right to Buy) (Designated Rural Areas and Designated Regions) (England) Order 2025
This Order, effective August 2nd, 2025, designates specific parishes in Colchester and East Hampshire as rural areas under the Housing Act 1985's right-to-buy scheme.
It also designates Colchester and East Hampshire as regions for the scheme's application in those parishes.
The order enables the imposition of covenants or rights of first refusal on sold properties to potentially preserve affordable housing.
An impact assessment was deemed unnecessary due to a lack of anticipated significant effects on public or private sectors.
Arguments For
Supporting affordable housing in rural areas: By designating specific rural areas, the order aims to support the right-to-buy scheme while potentially safeguarding affordable housing stock. The order allows for the imposition of covenants or rights of first refusal, giving local authorities a way to manage the potential depletion of affordable housing.
Local control and flexibility: The order provides for local authorities to use the right-to-buy scheme, allowing potentially more tailored approaches to affordable housing maintenance in different regions based on local circumstances.
Compliance with existing legislation: This order operates under the authority of section 157 of the Housing Act 1985, providing a legal basis and historical context for actions taken.
Arguments Against
Potential loss of affordable housing: The right-to-buy scheme, even with added safeguards, could still lead to a reduction in the amount of affordable housing in designated rural areas. The effectiveness of covenants or rights of first refusal may be limited in practice.
Implementation challenges: Effectively monitoring and enforcing covenants is important. The order may face implementation challenges including the cost for local authorities to manage these provisions.
Regional disparities: The focus on specific regions could potentially exacerbate existing inequalities in housing provision across other rural areas of England not covered by this order. Alternative approaches could involve wider policy changes.
Citation, commencement, extent and interpretation 1.
(1)
This Order may be cited as the Housing (Right to Buy) (Designated Rural Areas and Designated Regions) (England) Order 2025 and comes into force on 2nd August 2025.
(2)
This Order extends to England and Wales.
(3)
In this Order—
“the Act” means the Housing Act 1985;
“designated rural area” means a rural area designated by article 2.
This section provides the order's title, effective date (August 2nd, 2025), geographic coverage (England and Wales), and defines key terms. 'The Act' refers to the Housing Act 1985, and 'designated rural area' is defined by a later part of the order.
The purpose is clarity and legal precision.
Designated rural areas 2.
The areas specified in the Schedule are designated as rural areas for the purposes of section 157(1) of the Act.
This section directly designates the areas listed in the accompanying Schedule as 'rural areas' in the context of the Housing Act 1985's section 157(1).
This section acts to formally categorize these areas for specific legal purposes under the Act.
Designated regions 3.
(1)
In relation to a dwelling-house which is situated in a designated rural area specified in paragraph 1 of the Schedule, the region designated for the purposes of section 157(3) of the Act is the City of Colchester.
(2)
In relation to a dwelling-house which is situated in a designated rural area specified in paragraph 2 of the Schedule, the region designated for the purposes of section 157(3) of the Act is the district of East Hampshire.
This section designates the City of Colchester and the district of East Hampshire as the relevant 'regions' in relation to Section 157(3) of the Housing Act 1985 regarding 'designated rural areas'.
This establishes the administrative bodies responsible for managing sections of the right-to-buy scheme within the specified rural areas.
The section links specific areas to particular managing authorities.
SCHEDULE
Designation of rural areas
Article 2
1.
In the City of Colchester, the parishes of Abberton, Aldham, Birch, Boxted, Chappel, Copford with Easthorpe, Dedham, East Mersea, Fingringhoe, Fordham, Great and Little Wigborough, Great Tey, Langenhoe, Langham, Layer Breton, Layer-de-la-Haye, Layer Marney, Little Horkesley, Messing-cum-Inworth, Mount Bures, Peldon, Salcott, Virley, Wakes Colne and Wormingford.
2.
In the district of East Hampshire, the parishes of Beech, Bentley, Bentworth, Binsted, Chawton, East Tisted, Farringdon, Froyle, Kingsley, Lasham, Medstead, Newton Valence, Ropley, Selborne, Shalden, Wield and Worldham.
The schedule provides a detailed list of the parishes specifically designated as rural areas.
Paragraph 1 lists the parishes within Colchester, and paragraph 2 lists those within East Hampshire. This establishes the precise geographic scope of the order's designations.
EXPLANATORY NOTE (This is not part of the Order)
This Order designates the parishes listed in the Schedule as rural areas for the purposes of section 157(1) of the Housing Act 1985 (c. 68) (“the Act”). It also provides for the City of Colchester and the district of East Hampshire to be designated regions for the purposes of section 157(3) of the Act in relation to dwelling-houses situated in the designated rural areas falling within the City of Colchester and the district of East Hampshire, respectively.
The purpose of designating a rural area relates to the sale of dwelling-houses within the area under the right to buy, and that the vendor may impose certain covenants or reserve a right of first refusal in specified circumstances.
A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.
This explanatory note clarifies the order's purpose beyond its legal text.
It explains the order's role in managing the right-to-buy scheme within the specified areas, emphasizing the use of covenants and rights of first refusal to potentially retain affordable housing stock.
It also notes that a full impact assessment was not required due to the perceived minimal impact on the public and private sectors.
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