UK Offence Report

Overcrowding in houses in multiple occupation

article 76(15) of The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

15 Any person who knowingly fails to comply with the requirements of

a notice under paragraph (10), or furnishes

a statement which he knows is false in

a material particular, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

2 on the standard scale.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly.

What would breach article 76(15)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words an offence is committed where a person knowingly fails to comply with the requirements of a notice under paragraph (10), or furnishes a statement which he knows is false in a material particular.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£500
Standard scale
Level 2
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
15 July 1992
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes further provision with respect to housing in Northern Ireland. Part I is introductory. Part II re-states with amendments the law relating to housing associations and Part III provides for the payment of grants towards the cost of improvement and repair of housing accommodation, the carrying out of works of maintenance, repair and improvement and the replacement of dwellings. Part IV is concerned with houses in multiple occupation. Part V makes miscellaneous amendments to the Housing (Northern Ireland) Orders of 1981, 1983 and 1986. Article 90 introduces Schedule 5 which amends and restates the provisions of the Order of 1981 relating to clearance areas and clearance, demolition and closing orders. Article 94 provides for the winding up of the home purchase assistance scheme constituted under Part IX of the Order of 1981. Article 96 substitutes for the “right to buy” provisions of the Order of 1983 a house sales scheme to be administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Part VI amends the Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. Article 98 relates regulated tenancy standards to the standard of fitness for human habitation under Article 46 of the Order of 1981. Article 100 provides for the reduction of the rent of a dwelling-house let under a regulated tenancy where the landlord has failed to comply with a certificate of disrepair. Part VII contains miscellaneous and supplementary provisions. Under Article 103 the Executive is empowered to provide professional, technical and administrative services to owners or occupiers of certain dwellings. Article 105 repeals the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts 1899 to 1948.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source