Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993

15 The nominee purchaser: appointment and replacement. E+W

(1) The nominee purchaser shall conduct on behalf of the participating tenants all proceedings arising out of the initial notice, with a view to the eventual acquisition by him, on their behalf, of such freehold and other interests as fall to be so acquired under a contract entered into in pursuance of that notice.

(2) In relation to any claim to exercise the right to collective enfranchisement with respect to any premises, the nominee purchaser shall be such person or persons as may for the time being be appointed for the purposes of this section by the participating tenants; and in the first instance the nominee purchaser shall be the person or persons specified in the initial notice in pursuance of section 13(3)(f).

(3) The appointment of any person as the nominee purchaser, or as one of the persons constituting the nominee purchaser, may be terminated by the participating tenants by the giving of a notice stating that that person’s appointment is to terminate on the date on which the notice is given.

(4) Any such notice must be given—

(a) to the person whose appointment is being terminated, and

(b) to the reversioner in respect of the specified premises.

(5) Any such notice must in addition either—

(a) specify the name or names of the person or persons constituting the nominee purchaser as from the date of the giving of the notice, and an address in England and Wales at which notices may be given to that person or those persons under this Chapter; or

(b) state that the following particulars will be contained in a further notice given to the reversioner within the period of 28 days beginning with that date, namely—

(i) the name of the person or persons for the time being constituting the nominee purchaser,

(ii) if falling after that date, the date of appointment of that person or of each of those persons, and

(iii) an address in England and Wales at which notices may be given to that person or those persons under this Chapter;

and the appointment of any person by way of replacement for the person whose appointment is being terminated shall not be valid unless his name is specified, or is one of those specified, under paragraph (a) or (b).

(6) Where the appointment of any person is terminated in accordance with this section, anything done by or in relation to the nominee purchaser before the date of termination of that person’s appointment shall be treated, so far as necessary for the purpose of continuing its effect, as having been done by or in relation to the nominee purchaser as constituted on or after that date.

(7) Where the appointment of any person is so terminated, he shall not be liable under section 33 for any costs incurred in connection with the proposed acquisition under this Chapter at any time after the date of termination of his appointment; but if—

(a) at any such time he is requested by the nominee purchaser for the time being to supply to the nominee purchaser, at an address in England and Wales specified in the request, all or any documents in his custody or under his control that relate to that acquisition, and

(b) he fails without reasonable cause to comply with any such request or is guilty of any unreasonable delay in complying with it,

he shall be liable for any costs which are incurred by the nominee purchaser, or for which the nominee purchaser is liable under section 33, in consequence of the failure.

(8) Where—

(a) two or more persons together constitute the nominee purchaser, and

(b) the appointment of any (but not both or all) of them is terminated in accordance with this section without any person being appointed by way of immediate replacement,

the person or persons remaining shall for the time being constitute the nominee purchaser.

(9) Where—

(a) a notice given under subsection (3) contains such a statement as is mentioned in subsection (5)(b), and

(b) as a result of the termination of the appointment in question there is no nominee purchaser for the time being,

the running of any period which—

(i) is prescribed by or under this Part for the giving of any other notice or the making of any application, and

(ii) would otherwise expire during the period beginning with the date of the giving of the notice under subsection (3) and ending with the date when the particulars specified in subsection (5)(b) are notified to the reversioner,

shall (subject to subsection (10)) be suspended throughout the period mentioned in paragraph (ii).

(10) If—

(a) the circumstances are as mentioned in subsection (9)(a) and (b), but

(b) the particulars specified in subsection (5)(b) are not notified to the reversioner within the period of 28 days specified in that provision,

the initial notice shall be deemed to have been withdrawn at the end of that period.

(11) A copy of any notice given under subsection (3) or (5)(b) shall be given by the participating tenants to every relevant landlord (other than the reversioner) to whom the initial notice or a copy of it was given in accordance with section 13 and Part II of Schedule 3; and, where a notice under subsection (3) terminates the appointment of a person who is one of two or more persons together constituting the nominee purchaser, a copy of the notice shall also be so given to every other person included among those persons.

(12) Nothing in this section applies in relation to the termination of the appointment of the nominee purchaser (or of any of the persons constituting the nominee purchaser) at any time after a binding contract is entered into in pursuance of the initial notice; and in this Chapter references to the nominee purchaser, so far as referring to anything done by or in relation to the nominee purchaser at any time falling after such a contract is so entered into, are references to the person or persons constituting the nominee purchaser at the time when the contract is entered into or such other person as is for the time being the purchaser under the contract.