Localism Act 2011

159 Further provisions about transfer of tenancy under section 158

(1) A landlord may refuse to comply with a request under section 158 only on one or more of the grounds set out in Schedule 14 (and in that Schedule references to the new tenancy are to the tenancy that the landlord has been requested to grant under that section).

(2) If the landlord refuses to comply with the request otherwise than on one of those grounds, the landlord is treated for the purposes of section 158 as not having refused to comply with the request.

(3) A landlord may not rely on any of the grounds set out in Schedule 14 unless the landlord has, within the period of 42 days beginning with receipt of the relevant tenants’ request, given each of the tenants a notice specifying the ground and giving particulars of it.

(4) The duty imposed on a landlord by section 158 is enforceable by injunction.

(5) A county court has jurisdiction to entertain any proceedings brought pursuant to subsection (4).

(6) In section 158, this section and Schedule 14—

(a) “secure tenancy” has the meaning given by section 79 of the Housing Act 1985,

(b) “flexible tenancy” has the meaning given by section 107A of that Act,

(c) “assured tenancy” and “assured shorthold tenancy” have the same meaning as in Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988, and

(d) other expressions defined in the Housing Act 1985 or the Housing Act 1988 have the same meaning as in that Act (and, if they are defined in both Acts, have the same meaning as in the Housing Act 1985).

(7) In section 160(1) of the Housing Act 1996 (cases where provisions about allocations do not apply), for the “or” at the end of paragraph (d) substitute—

“(da) is granted in response to a request under section 158 of the Localism Act 2011 (transfer of tenancy), or”.