House purchase scheme

Summary

A request was made for statistics on businesses operating from properties under the House Purchase Assistance Scheme, including permission status and registration details. The Department of Infrastructure responded that it does not hold the specific data requested and cannot compile it without creating new information.

Key Facts

• The Department of Infrastructure does not hold data on the number of properties running businesses with or without permission.
• The authority cannot provide figures for unregistered businesses or those registered for the Homestay Scheme.
• Compliance with the request would require creating or deriving information, which is not required under the Act.
• The Department relies on information from other parties to enforce scheme terms regarding unauthorized businesses.
• The response provided a list of factors considered when granting or refusing permission to run a business.

Data Disclosed

• 2018-10-24
• 2018-11-16
• 636466

Exemptions Cited

• Information not held
• Requirement to create or derive information from existing data
• Substantial compilation or collation of information

Original Request

1. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme who have been given permission to run a business. 2. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme who have not been given permission to run a business and the reasons why. 3. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that run a registered business without permission. 4. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that run unregistered businesses with permission. 5. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that run unregistered businesses without permission. 6. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that have registered for TT/MGP/Southern Homestay.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: Maggie Farmer Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: maggie.farmer@gov.im

Our ref: 636466 16 November 2018

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 24 October 2018 and which states:

"1. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme who have been given permission to run a business. 2. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme who have not been given permission to run a business and the reasons why. 3. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that run a registered business without permission. 4. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that run unregistered businesses with permission. 5. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that run unregistered businesses without permission. 6. How many properties under the house purchase assistance scheme that have registered for TT/MGP/Southern Homestay."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. Complying with your request for information relating to questions 1 and 2, would require the Department to; 'Create or derive information from information that it holds and undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds', which the Department of Infrastructure is not required to do under the Act. Information held by the Department about properties under the house purchase assistance Schemes from which businesses are run is not in a format which would allow the Department to reasonably be expected to collate and provide figures that would answer either of these first two questions. In question 2 you have also asked for the reasons for refusal in each case. Since the

Department is not in a position to identify the number of cases where a permission request for running a business was refused, it follows that the Department is thereby also unable to provide its reasons for refusal in each case. However, the Department may be able to assist with your understanding of possible reasons for refusal by providing you with a list of its usual considerations for making a decision on a request for permission to run a business. The Department would consider the following factors in making any decision to approve or refuse a request to run a business from a property under the house purchase assistance Schemes: - Will the property continue to be used primarily as the assisted person's place of residence? - Has the requestor informed their mortgage provider about their intention to run a business from the property? - Are there any conditions in their lease or title deeds that prevent running a business at the property and in cases where a Management Company exists, has permission been sought from the Management Company to run the business from the property? - Will the business cause nuisance to neighbours? Nuisance to neighbours might be expected as a result of footfall of customers/deliveries to the property, the level at which parking in the area might be affected by the volume of customer/supplier vehicles that might visit the property and the level of noise created by business activities. - Has the requestor obtained appropriate liability insurance? - Will the planned business require changes to be made to the property itself? In relation to questions 3, 4, 5 and 6, the Department of Infrastructure does not hold the requested information. The Department cannot know how many properties under the house purchase assistance schemes might be running a business without first seeking permission. The Department hopes that most assisted persons would adhere to the terms and conditions of the assistance they were provided and would seek permission prior to setting out to run a business from their home. In cases where assisted persons do not adhere to the terms and conditions they signed up to and set out to run a business from their home without seeking permission, the Department relies principally upon information that is supplied by other parties in order to enforce the terms of the Scheme and take action where appropriate. The Department does not ordinarily check whether a business is registered and as such does not hold any information about the number of these properties that may run businesses that are unregistered. Furthermore, the Department of Infrastructure does not have access to any database of properties that have been registered for the Homestay Scheme run by the Department for Enterprise and therefore is unable to confirm the number of those properties that have been purchased through one of the house purchase assistance Schemes.

Please quote the reference number 636466 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely