Memorandum of Association

The Companies Acts 1985 to 1989 Company Limited By Guarantee and Not Having a Share Capital

Memorandum of Association of The Housing Law Practitioners Association

1. The Company’s name is The Housing Law Practitioners Association.

2. The Company’s registered office is to be situated in England and Wales.

3. The Company’s objects are:

To promote, foster and develop equal access to the legal system for and the rights of homeless persons, tenants and others who receive rather than provide housing services or who are disadvantaged in the provision of housing, by all means, including education, the dissemination of information, the advancement of law reform and the improvement of the administration of justice.
To foster the role of the legal process in the protection of tenants and other residential occupiers of housing, including owner occupiers, and in the promotion of higher standards of housing construction, improvement and repair, landlord services to tenants and local authority services to public and private sector tenants, homeless persons and others in need of advice and assistance in housing provision.
To promote and develop expertise in the practise of housing law by education and the exchange of information and knowledge.
To carry on any other trade or business which can, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, be advantageously carried on by the Company.
To acquire by purchase, lease, exchange, hire or otherwise, or to hold for any estate or interest, any land, buildings, easements, rights, privileges, concessions, patents, patent rights, licences, secret processes, machinery, plant, stock-in-trade and any real or personal property of any kind necessary or convenient for the purposes of or in connection with the Company’s business.
To erect, alter or maintain any buildings, plant and machinery necessary or convenient for the Company’s business and to contribute to or subsidise the erection, construction and maintenance of any of the above.
To acquire by subscription or otherwise and hold, sell, deal with, make a market in or dispose of any shares, stocks, debentures, debenture stock, or other securities of any kind whatsoever, guaranteed by any company constituted or carrying on business in any part of the world and debentures, debenture stock and other securities of any kind guarantee by any Government or Authority, Municipal, Local or otherwise, whether at home or abroad, and to exercise and enforce all rights and powers conferred by the ownership thereof.
To receive money on deposit or otherwise either with or without security.
To take any gift or any real or personal property for any one or more of the objects of the Company whether or not subject to any special trust or condition.
To borrow and secure the repayment of money in such manner as the Company may think fit and to secure and guarantee the performance by the Company of any obligation or liability it may undertake or which may become binding upon it.
To lend money or advance credit with or without security, upon such terms as the Company may approve, and to guarantee or secure the payment of any moneys or the performance of any obligation by any person or company.
To undertake and execute any trust or agency business (whether gratuitously or otherwise) the undertaking whereof may seem desirable whether as being convenient for or conducive to any of the objects of the Company.
To take part in the formation, management, supervision or control of the Company and for that purpose and subject to Clause 4 hereof to appoint and remunerate any Professional Advisors, Consultants, experts or agents and to pay all or any expenses incurred in connection with these activities.
To draw, make, accept, endorse. discount, execute and issue promissory notes, bills of exchange, bills of lading, warrants, debentures and other negotiable or transferable instruments.
To apply for, purchase or otherwise acquire and hold or use any patents, licences, concessions, copyrights and the like, conferring any right to use or publish any secret or other information and to use, exercise, develop or grant licences in respect of the property, rights or information so acquired.
To sell, let or dispose of all or any of the property of the Company and to invest and deal with the moneys of the Company not immediately required.
(0) To employ experts, consultants and valuers to investigate and examine the condition, prospects, value, character and circumstances of any business concerns and undertakings and generally of any assets, property or rights.
To establish or promote or concur in establishing or promoting any other company whose objects shall include the acquisition or taking over of all or any of the assets or liabilities of the Company or the promotion of which shall be in any manner calculated to advance directly or indirectly the objects or the interests of the Company and to acquire, hold or dispose of shares, stocks or securities issued by or any other obligations of any such other company.
To purchase or otherwise acquire, take over and undertake all or any part of the business, property, liabilities and transactions of any person, or company carrying on any business the carrying on of which is calculated to benefit the Company or to advance its interests, or possessed of property suitable for the purposes of the Company.
To sell, improve, manage, develop, turn to account, exchange, let on rent, royalty, share of profits or otherwise, grant licences, easements and other rights in or over, and in any other manner deal with or dispose of the business and all or any of the property and assets for the time being of the Company for such consideration as the Company may think fit.
To subscribe to or otherwise aid the establishment and support of, any schools and any educational, scientific, literary, religious or charitable institutions or trade societies, whether such institutions or societies be solely connected with the business carried on by the Company or its predecessors in business or not, and to institute and maintain any club or other establishment.
To purchase and maintain insurance for or for the benefit of any persons who are or were at any time directors, officers, employees or auditors of the Company against any liability incurred by such persons in respect of any act or omission in the actual or purported execution and or discharge of their duties and or in the exercise of their powers and or otherwise in relation to their duties, powers or offices in relation to the Company, and to such extent as may be permitted by law or otherwise to indemnify or to exempt any such person against or from any such liability.
To do all or any of the things hereinbefore authorised, either alone or in conjunction with others, or as factors, trustees or agents for others, or by or through factors, trustees or agents.
To do all such other things (whether similar to any of the foregoing or not) as are incidental to or which the Company may think conducive to the above objects or any of them.
PROVIDED ALWAYS that the objects set forth in any sub-clause of this Clause shall not, except when the context expressly so requires, be in anywise limited or restricted by reference to or inference from the terms of any sub-clause or by the name of the Company. None of such sub-clauses or the objects therein specified or the powers thereby conferred shall be deemed subsidiary or auxiliary to the objects mentioned in the first sub-clause but the Company shall have full power to exercise all or any of the powers conferred by any parts of this Clause notwithstanding that the business, undertaking, property or acts proposed to be transacted, acquired, dealt with or performed do not fall within the objects of the first sub-clause of this Clause.

4. The income and property of the Company shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the Objects and no part shall be paid or transferred, directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise by way of profit, to members of the Company, and no Director shall be appointed to any office of the Company paid by salary or fees or receive any remuneration or other benefit in money or money’s worth from the Company: Provided that nothing in this document shall prevent any payment in good faith by the Company :

of the usual professional charges for business done by any Director who is a solicitor, accountant or other person engaged in a profession, or by any partner of his or hers, when instructed by the Company to act in a professional capacity on its behalf : Provided that at no time shall a majority of the Directors benefit under this provision and that a Director shall withdraw from any meeting at which his or her appointment or remuneration, or that of his or her partner, is under discussion;
of reasonable and proper remuneration for any services rendered to the Company by any member, officer or servant of the Company who is not a Director;
of interest on money lent by any member of the Company or Director at a reasonable and proper rate per annum not exceeding 2 per cent less than the published base lending rate of a clearing bank to be selected by the Directors;
of fees, remuneration or other benefit in money or money’s worth to any company of which a Director may also be a member holding not more than 1/100th part of the issued capital of that company;
of reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or let by any member of the Company or a Director;
to any Director of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.
5. The liability of the Members is limited.

6. Every member of the Company undertakes to contribute such amount as may be required (not exceeding £10) to the Company’s assets if it should be wound up while he is a member or within one year after he ceases to be a member, for payment of the Company’s debts and liabilities contracted before he ceases to be a member, and of the costs, charges and expenses of winding up, and for the adjustment of the rights of the contributories among themselves.

7. If the Company is wound up or dissolved and after all its debts and liabilities have been satisfied there remains any property it shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Company, but shall be given or transferred to some company or charity having Objects similar to the Objects which prohibits the distribution of its or their income and property to an extent at least as great as is imposed on the Company by Clause 4 above, chosen by the members of the Company at or before the time of dissolution and if that cannot be done then to some other charitable object.

WE, the subscribers to this Memorandum of Association wish to be formed into a Company pursuant to this Memorandum; and we agree to take the number of shares shown opposite our respective names.