Landlord and Tenant Act 1987

Product Information

The Right of First Refusal (RFR) is provided by Part 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (the 1987 Act) as amended by the Housing Act 1996. Provide your tenant with a copy of the property’s energy performance certificate at the earliest opportunity This booklet is not meant to describe or give a full interpretation of the law – only the courts can do that. Nor does it cover every case. If you are in any doubt about your rights and duties then seek specific advice. Introduction You must ensure there is a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance (excluding gas cookers).

If you are currently letting a property with a rating of F or G and you haven’t already taken action, you must improve the property’s rating to E immediately or register an exemption. the right is available both to leaseholders and regulated (fair rent) tenants but not to houses occupied as single dwellings. The RFR is restricted to qualifying tenants. These include leaseholders and most fixed or periodic tenancies, but specifically excludes shorthold or assured tenancies, business and agricultural tenancies, tenancies which are dependent upon employment (and any sub-tenants of any of these). the price set may, in some circumstances, be lower than that which could be achieved through a collective enfranchisement. However, it could also be higher. either party may withdraw – the landlord may withdraw the offer and the nominated person may withdraw his intention to proceed with the acquisition at any time up to exchange of contracts; neither is bound to proceed.Where the qualifying tenants accept the offer they then have a further period of at least two months in which to notify the landlord of their nominated person. This is the person, or group, or company which the qualifying tenants wish to acquire the interest on offer. (There is a note on organising the nominated person and formation of a company in Appendix 3). If the qualifying tenants already have a nominated person in mind they do not need to wait until service of this second notice .They can notify freeholder of the nominated person at any time after acceptance of the offer. . ensuring an individual has the “right to rent” in the UK provided they are present lawfully in accordance with immigration law. Under section 22 of the Immigration Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”), a landlord should not authorise an adult to occupy property as their only or main home under a residential tenancy agreement, unless the adult is a British, or Irish citizen or has the “right to rent” in the England Outline of the right of pre-emption given to qualifying tenants when their immediate landlord is disposing of his interest. For a brief summary see the Right of First Refusal fact sheet.

a statement that the notice constitutes an offer by the landlord to enter into a contract on the terms set out in the notice; If the notice is served on different tenants at different times, resulting in the period for accepting the RFR offer being different, the notice is presumed to have effect for all the tenants as if it provided for the acceptance period to end with the date in the last notice served. Qualifying tenants who have been denied the right of first refusal can pursue their rights of remedy even if the new landlord sells the interest on to another. The nominated person then has a period of 28 days in which to accept the contract and pay any deposit required. This has the effect of the nominated person and not the successful bidder entering into the contract. There must be at least two flats in the building, so the right does not apply to houses occupied as one unit – but will, of course, apply to a house which has been converted into flats. There are three requirements for the premises to be subject to the RFR:If all of the following criteria apply, your property is defined as a large house in multiple occupation and you must have a licence to rent it: Although the procedures are simple and provide very generous time frames for the tenants, there are certain limitations which must be considered:

Someone who is a tenant of three or more flats in the building (as leaseholder or tenant) will not be a qualifying tenant of any of the flats and will not be entitled to the Right of First Refusal. Disposals The procedure to be taken for acquiring the interest will depend on the disposal that has taken place; the rights are: You can charge a fee to your tenant if they want to end the tenancy early, although this fee must not exceed the loss incurred by you or reasonable costs to your letting agent if you are using one. The government’s guidance on the Tenant Fees Act contains more information. Return the deposit the right is not available to tenants of local authorities, housing associations, nor, in some cases, where the landlord lives in the building.the tenant may bring proceedings against you if repairs are not carried out and if the property is not kept fit for human habitation, which could result in paying compensation or a fine, as well as having to do the works Where Right to Manage (RTM) has been exercised in respect of the premises a copy of the offer notice must also be served on the RTM company. You may ask the tenant to pay a deposit before moving into your property in case of any damage or unpaid bills at the end of the tenancy. It’s important to remember that the deposit is the tenant’s money. For assured shorthold tenancies created since 6 April 2007, the deposit must be protected by a government-approved deposit protection scheme.

The notice must include the usual details and information on the interest and terms of the disposal as required under sections 5A to 5D, whichever is applicable, but, of course, no price or other consideration unless any part of the disposal consists of money. that the tenants may make an election under Section 8C of the 1987 Act accepting the offer of a non-monetary disposal (and explaining what this is); and If you want your tenant to leave your property, you must follow the correct procedures. If you don’t, you may be guilty of illegally evicting or harassing your tenant.the nominated person is deemed to have withdrawn where he fails to accept the contract or pay the deposit (see step 7 above). In some cases there may be changes to the property since the original sale (for example, the new landlord may have obtained possession of some of the flats, or obtained planning permission to build additional flats). In this case the price should be whatever it would have been at the date of the sale had the changes applied at that time. This is not a matter within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and must be determined by the court. Right to compel grant of a tenancy (Section 12C) the date by which the offer may be accepted (the initial period) – this must not be less than two months from the date of the notice; and