(1)Where—
(a)a landlord has made a relevant disposal affecting any premises to which at the time of the disposal this Part applied ("the original disposal"), and
(b)either no notice was served by the landlord under section 5 with respect to that disposal or it was made in contravention of any provision of sections 6 to 10, and
(c)those premises are still premises to which this Part applies,
the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats may, before the end of the period specified in subsection (2) below, serve a notice on the transferee under the original disposal requiring him to furnish a person (whose name and address are specified for the purpose in the notice) with particulars of the terms on which the original disposal was made (including those relating to the consideration payable) and the date on which it was made; and in the following provisions of this Part the transferee under that disposal is referred to as "the new landlord".
(2)The period referred to in subsection (1) is the period, of two months beginning with the date by which—
(a)notices under section 3 of the [1985 c. 70.] Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (in this Act referred to as "the 1985 Act") relating to the original disposal, or
(b)documents of any other description indicating that the original disposal has taken place,
have been served on the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats.
(3)Any person served with a notice in accordance with subsection (1) shall comply with the notice within the period of one month beginning with the date on which it is served on him.
(1)Where—
(a)paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 11(1) apply to a relevant disposal affecting any premises to which at the time of the disposal this Part applied (other than a disposal consisting of such a surrender as is mentioned in section 15(1)(b)), and
(b)those premises are still premises to which this Part applies,
the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats may, before the end of the period specified in subsection (2), serve a notice ("a purchase notice") on the new landlord requiring him (except as provided by the following provisions of this Part) to dispose of the estate or interest that was the subject-matter of the original disposal, on the terms on which it was made (including those relating to the consideration payable), to a person or persons nominated for the purposes of this section by any such majority of qualifying tenants of those flats.
(2)The period referred to in subsection (1) is—
(a)in a case where a notice has been served on the new landlord under section 11(1), the period of three months beginning with the date on which a notice is served by him under section 11(3); and
(b)in any other case, the period of three months beginning with the date mentioned in section 11 (2).
(3)A purchase notice—
(a)shall, where the estate or interest that was the subject-matter of the original disposal related to any property in addition to the premises to which this Part applied at the time of the disposal—
(i)require the new landlord to dispose of that estate or interest only so far as relating to those premises, and
(ii)require him to do so on the terms referred to in subsection (1) subject to such modifications as are necessary or expedient in the circumstances;
(b)may, instead of specifying the estate or interest to be disposed of or any particular terms on which the disposal is to be made by the new landlord (whether doing so expressly or by reference to the original disposal), provide for that estate or interest, or (as the case may be) for any such terms, to be determined by a rent assessment committee in accordance with section 13.
(4)Where the property which the new landlord is required to dispose of in pursuance of the purchase notice has at any time since the original disposal become subject to any charge or other incumbrance, then, unless the court by order directs otherwise—
(a)in the case of a charge to secure the payment of money or the performance of any other obligation by the new landlord or any other person, the instrument by virtue of which the property is disposed of by the new landlord to the person or persons nominated for the purposes of this section shall (subject to the provisions of Part I of Schedule 1) operate to discharge the property from that charge; and
(b)in the case of any other incumbrance, the property shall be so disposed of subject to the incumbrance but with a reduction in the consideration payable to the new landlord corresponding to the amount by which the existence of the incumbrance reduces the value of the property.
(5)Subsection (4)(a) and Part I of Schedule 1 shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to mortgages and liens as they apply to charges; but nothing in those provisions shall apply to a rentcharge.
(6)Where the property referred to in subsection (4) has at any time since the original disposal increased in monetary value owing to any change in circumstances (other than a change in the value of money), the amount of the consideration payable to the new landlord for the disposal by him of the property in pursuance of the purchase notice shall be the amount that might reasonably have been obtained on a corresponding disposal made on the open market at the time of the original disposal if the change in circumstances had already taken place.
(7)The person or persons initially nominated for the purposes of this section shall be so nominated in the purchase notice; and any such person may only be replaced by another person so nominated by the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constitutent flats if he has (for any reason) ceased to be able to act as a person so nominated.
(8)Where two or more persons have been so nominated and any of them ceases to act as such a person without being replaced in accordance with subsection (7), any remaining person or persons so nominated shall be entitled to continue to act in his or their capacity as such.
(9)Where, in the exercise of its power to award costs, the court or the Lands Tribunal makes, in connection with any proceedings arising under or by virtue of this Part, an award of costs against the person or persons so nominated, the liability for those costs shall be the joint and several liability of that person or those persons together with the qualifying tenants by whom the relevant purchase notice was served.
(1)A rent assessment committee shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine—
(a)any question arising in relation to any matters specified in a purchase notice (whether relating to the nature of the estate or interest, or the identity of the property, to be disposed of or relating to any other terms on which the disposal by the new landlord is to be made); and
(b)any question arising for determination in consequence of a provision in a purchase notice such as is mentioned in section 12(3)(b).
(2)An application to a rent assessment committee under this section must be in such form, and contain such particulars, as the Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe.
(3)On any application under this section the interests of the persons by whom a purchase notice has been served shall be represented by the nominated person, and accordingly the parties to any such application shall not include those persons.
(4)Any costs incurred by a party to an application under this section in connection with the application shall be borne by that party.
(5)A rent assessment committee shall, when constituted for the purpose of hearing and determining any question falling within subsection (1) above, be known as a leasehold valuation tribunal, and paragraphs 1 to 3 and 7 of Schedule 22 to the [1980 c. 51.] Housing Act 1980 (provisions relating to leasehold valuation tribunals) shall accordingly apply to any such committee when so constituted.
(6)In this section and sections 14, 16 and 17 "the nominated person" means (subject to section 15(5)) the person or persons for the time being nominated for the purposes of section 12 by the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats.
(1)Where, at any time before a binding contract is entered into in pursuance of a purchase notice, the nominated person serves a notice on the new landlord indicating an intention no longer to proceed with the disposal required by the purchase notice, the new landlord may recover from that person any costs reasonably incurred by him in connection with that disposal down to the time when the notice is served on him under this subsection.
(2)If, at any such time as is mentioned in subsection (1) above, the nominated person becomes aware that the number of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats desiring to proceed with the disposal required by the purchase notice is less than the requisite majority of those tenants, he shall forthwith serve on the new landlord a notice indicating such an intention as is mentioned in subsection (1), and that subsection shall apply accordingly.
(3)If a notice is served under this section at a time when any proceedings arising under or by virtue of this Part are pending before the court or the Lands Tribunal, the liability of the nominated person for any costs incurred by the new landlord as mentioned in subsection (1) above shall be such as may be determined by the court or (as the case may be) by the Tribunal.
(4)By virtue of section 13(4) the costs that may be recovered by the new landlord under the preceding provisions of this section do not include any costs incurred by him in connection with an application to a rent assessment committee.
(5)Any liability for costs to which a nominated person becomes subject by virtue of this section shall be such a joint and several liability as is mentioned in section 12(9).
(6)Section 13(6) applies for the purposes of this section.
(1)Where—
(a)paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 11(1) apply to a relevant disposal affecting any premises to which at the time of the disposal this Part applied, and
(b)the disposal consisted of the surrender by the landlord of a tenancy held by him ("the relevant tenancy"), and
(c)those premises are still premises to which this Part applies,
the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats may, before the end of the period specified in section 12(2), serve a notice on the new landlord requiring him (except as provided by the following provisions of this Part) to grant a new tenancy of the premises subject to the relevant tenancy, on the terms referred to in subsection (2) below and expiring on the date on which that tenancy would have expired, to a person or persons nominated for the purposes of this section by any such majority of qualifying tenants of those flats.
(2)Those terms are—
(a)the terms of the relevant tenancy; and
(b)if the new landlord paid any amount to the landlord as consideration for the surrender by him of that tenancy, that any such amount is paid to the new landlord by the person or persons so nominated.
(3)A notice under this section—
(a)shall, where the premises subject to the relevant tenancy included premises other than those to which this Part applied at the time of the original disposal—
(i)require the new landlord to grant a new tenancy only of the premises to which this Part so applied, and
(ii)require him to do so on the terms referred to in subsection (2) subject to such modifications as are necessary or expedient in the circumstances;
(b)may, instead of specifying the premises to be demised under the new tenancy or any particular terms on which that tenancy is to be granted by the new landlord (whether doing so expressly or by reference to the relevant tenancy), provide for those premises, or (as the case may be) for any such terms, to be determined by a rent assessment committee in accordance with section 13 (as applied by subsection (4) below).
(4)The following provisions, namely—
section 12(7) to (9),
sections 13 and 14, and
sections 16 and 17,
shall apply in relation to a notice under this section as they apply in relation to a purchase notice (whether referred to as such or as a notice served under section 12(1)) but subject to the modifications specified in subsection (5) below.
(5)Those modifications are as follows—
(a)any reference to the purposes of section 12 shall be read as a reference to the purposes of this section;
(b)the reference in section 13(1)(b) to section 12(3)(b) shall be read as a reference to subsection (3)(b) above;
(c)the references in section 16 to the estate or interest that was the subject-matter of the original disposal shall be read as a reference to the estate or interest which, prior to the surrender of the relevant tenancy, constituted the reversion immediately expectant on it; and
(d)the references in sections 16 and 17 to sections 12 to 14 shall be read as references to sections 12(7) to (9), 13 and 14 (as applied by subsection (4) above) and this section.