Freeholder Duties
Freehold Sales by Landlord
Freehold Sale Solicitors in Manchester and London acting for Landlords
If you wish to sell the freehold to a house where there are no tenants, you can do this how you wish.
If the house does have tenants, you can ask the current tenants if they wish to buy the freehold and negotiate a fair price. However, you do not have to ask them to buy first and are free to sell to anyone else.
Right of First Refusal
The Right of First Refusal is provided by Part 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 as amended by the Housing Act 1996.
If you, as landlord, are intending to sell your interest in a building containing flats in relation to which the Right of First Refusal exists, you must, by law, first offer it to the tenants before offering it on the open market.
You must serve formal notices on the tenants telling them what you are intending and must provide time for them to consider the offer; you cannot sell to another party during that time, nor offer the interest to anyone else at a price less than that proposed to the tenants or on different terms.
Breach of these legal obligations by a landlord is a criminal offence. If you sell without providing the Right of First Refusal, the tenants can serve a notice on the new owner demanding details of the transaction, including the price paid; they can then take action to force the new owner to sell to them at the price they paid.
Contact our Property Solicitors:
We would like to discuss your freehold requirements directly to find out how we can help.
Please contact our Property Team by sending an email to us at [email protected] and one of our conveyancing solicitors shall call you back.
Alternatively, please call our property solicitors on 0330 127 8888 for a no obligation discussion.
Monarch Solicitors is a leading UK law firm with specialist commercial property solicitors ready to offer their expertise. Our award-winning Manchester solicitors, London solicitors and Birmingham solicitors offer their legal expertise nationally and internationally.
We are also able to leverage an international network spanning across Hong Kong, Turkey and Dubai to provide seamless assistance with cross-border matters relating to freehold sales.
FAQ
It depends on a number of factors including the rateable values of the house at different dates, the ground rent, the number of years left on the lease and the value of the house.
There are laws in place, such as the Landlord and Tenant act 1987, to protect tenants. If you are starting the process of selling your freehold, you must provide any qualifying tenants with notice within the correct timeframes.
The landlord is under no obligation to sell the freehold property
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