Landlord and Tenant Act 1987

Product Information

Although the procedures are simple and provide very generous time frames for the tenants, there are certain limitations which must be considered: If the tenant is responsible for paying the energy bills, they can choose to have smart meters installed. If you are responsible for paying the energy bills, you could consider installing smart meters in your property. Read Ofgem’s guidance about smart meters and Smart Energy GB’s information about the benefits of smart meters for rented properties. Water safety the price is set by the landlord, or by auction where the landlord decides to sell that way. There is no right for that price to be determined by a First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) or anyone else. However the landlord cannot sell or offer the interest to another party on different terms or at a lower price than that originally offered within 12 months of his notice, unless he again offers the Right to the existing tenants on the new terms and/or at the lower figure.

All timeframes and subsequent procedures follow those of S5A Section 5D – where the proposed disposal is not subject to a contract or option or right of pre-emption and is proceeding straight to the conveyance. the right is available both to leaseholders and regulated (fair rent) tenants but not to houses occupied as single dwellings. you will be prohibited from using a section 21 notice if you charge fees that are not permitted under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 Where the landlord intends to dispose by auction, the notice must be served between four and six months before the date of the auction. The building will be excluded from the RFR if more than 50% (excluding the common areas) is not in residential use, say offices or shops. The measurement excludes any common parts of the residential building, such as staircases, landings etc. The Act refers to parts of the premises occupied or intended to be occupied for non-residential purposes. A building could be excluded if it contained empty spaces which made up more than half the building which the landlord intended to use for non-residential purposes, such as storage. The landlordThe legislation requires the landlord to serve the notice on the qualifying tenants and that is what he is expected to do. It does, however, provide that the landlord will be considered to have complied with this if he serves notices on not less than 90% of the qualifying tenants. that the disposal to the new landlord was one to which Part 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 applied It might be assumed that, because the landlord cannot then sell to others at a lower price, this will have to be a price achievable in the open market. However, that may not be the case and sometimes S5 notices are served simply to tempt the tenants into buying at a price slightly higher than that which they would have to pay following a claim under Chapter 1 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the 1993 Act). the principal terms of the proposed disposal, the property and the interest. However, there will be no price or deposit mentioned (nor is the landlord required to divulge the reserve price); if the landlord withdraws the interest from the auction, or it does not sell, then the interest cannot be sold, by auction or otherwise, without starting the whole procedure afresh with service of a new S5A or S5B notice.

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). You must permit the tenant rights of quiet enjoyment. You cannot access the property whenever you like unless it is an emergency, and you must give at least 24 hours’ notice of visits for things like repairs. Access must be at a reasonable time and you must not enter the property, even if the tenant is absent, unless you have their permission to do so. Harassment and illegal eviction In most cases, you must provide potential tenants with an energy performance certificate at the earliest opportunity. You will not be able to gain possession of your property using a section 21 notice unless you provide this. if the qualifying tenants do not accept the offer made by the landlord or notify him of the nominated person, or if the nominated person withdraws from the acquisition or is deemed to have withdrawn because of a failure to adhere to the time limits, then the landlord is free to sell at auction within the next 12 months, with no further reference to the tenants, but subject to conditions. However, he may not sell privately (other than a sale at a public auction) without a new notice under S5A, or he commits a criminal offence. if not, whether the tenant considers himself entitled to receive such an offer (that is, does the tenant think that the RFR should apply to the building?);

Changes over time for: Section 24

the requirement to make the offer and the procedure involved is set out in the Act. If a landlord fails to comply with any of these statutory requirements he commits a criminal offence. The requirements also apply where the landlord’s interest is being sold by a Receiver, a Trustee in bankruptcy or an Executor following grant of probate. 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. . The S5A and S5B procedures are the most commonly used and the remaining provisions are relatively rare. Where the landlord fails to give Notice of First Refusal Where there are less than 10 qualifying tenants he may serve on all but one of them. This means that, where there are only two qualifying tenants, the landlord could comply by serving the Offer Notice on only one of them. Where the building is one to which the RFR should apply, the new landlord must, as well as the S3 notice, serve a notice under Section 3A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 ( a S3A notice), advising each tenant of their rights under the 1987 Act. The S3A notice must be served by the new landlord, irrespective of whether the original landlord had or had not served an offer notice on the qualifying tenants prior to the disposal.

The time at which the disposal takes place is significant for the service of notices and for prosecutions in the case of a failure to comply with the statutory requirements. you will be prohibited from using a section 21 notice if you fail to deal with the tenant’s deposit in accordance with the requirements of a government-approved deposit scheme Harassment can be anything a landlord does, or fails to do, that makes a tenant feel unsafe in the property or forces them to leave.

Changes over time for: Section 12B

Pay any other bills that they are responsible for on time, such as council tax, gas, electricity and water bills – if a tenant pays the gas or electricity bills, they can choose their own energy supplier The interest is offered at the auction. The tenants are free to attend or not – they are not required to. Similarly, they are not required to make a bid and would be unwise to do so as this will have the effect of driving up the price. If a successful bid is accepted at the auction the landlord must send a copy of the contract to the nominated person within seven days of the auction. either party may be deemed to have withdrawn – if the landlord does not send or exchange contracts (steps 4 and 6 above) in which case the landlord cannot dispose of the interest for 12 months following deemed withdrawal , or if the nominated person does not return the signed contract (step 5 above) the party is deemed to have withdrawn. In this case the landlord may dispose of his interest during the 12 months following withdrawal but subject to conditions. You must ensure there is at least one smoke alarm on each floor of a rented home where there is a room used as living accommodation. The legislation does not define what is intended as a building, but it is generally understood to mean a separate building or, in some cases, a part of a building which may be divided vertically from another part.

the nominated person is deemed to have withdrawn where he fails to accept the contract or pay the deposit (see step 7 above). There is no prescribed form or content for a S12A notice, it simply advises the new landlord of the qualifying tenants’ wish to acquire.

What Version

a sale by two or more persons of the same family to a different combination of the same family (or a transfer by family members to fewer of their number). 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. It is a landlord’s responsibility to keep the property they rent out in good repair, fit for human habitation and free of hazards. If your tenant raises concerns about the condition of the property, it is your responsibility to assess the condition and make necessary repairs. Your tenant may also ask the local council to carry out an inspection. 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. 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.