Special Rural Housing Status
last updated
08/04/2010 00:00
Albyn Housing Society Ltd has been awarded the status of a Designated Rural Body under the Title Conditions Act 2003. What this means for the Society is that it allows the Society to impose Rural Housing Burdens such as it might wish to do to secure affordable housing in the affordable housing sector in perpetuity.
A Rural Housing Burden is a special type of pre-emption allowing a rural housing body (nominated in a list by Scottish Ministers) an opportunity to buy back property it has sold for the provision of affordable rural housing. [see s.43 of the Title Conditions Act]
The Title Conditions Act 2003 forms the second stage of the property law reform programme. It became fully effective on the same date as the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act 2000 (28 November 2004).
Donald Lockhart, the Society's Development Director commented: "The Act was intended to sweep away anachronistic legal rights of feudal superiors but by this measure the Executive has acknowledged that, used responsibly by a Designated Rural Body, a Rural Burden can increase access to affordable housing in our most pressurised rural areas."
