Download or read book Housing Act 2004 written by Great Britain and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Act, given Royal Assent on 18th November 2004, takes forward provisions contained in the original Green Paper (ISBN 1851123784, published 2000), and incorporates subsequent policy statements and responses to the draft Housing Bill (Cm. 5793, ISBN 0101579322, published 2003). Among a number of provisions are: the replacement of the existing housing fitness standard with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which will allow local authorities to tackle poor housing conditions; regulate and improve controls of houses in multiple occupation, by introducing two new licensing regimes for private rented property; all sellers and estate agents of houses will be required to produce a home information pack for potential buyers; also a reform of the right to buy scheme in order to curb abuses by property developers and tenants; there will be an extension of the power of Housing Corporations to give social housing grants to non-registered social landlords and enabling local authorities to secure occupation of long-term private sector homes; a requirement by local authorities to assess the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers in their areas. The Act applies to England and Wales, and has an Explanatory Note (ISBN 0105634042).