21Tenant's right to apply to court for appointment of manager(1)

The tenant of a flat contained in any premises to which this Part applies may, subject to the following provisions of this Part, apply to the court for an order under section 24 appointing a manager to act in relation to those premises.

(2)

Subject to subsection (3), this Part applies to premises consisting of the whole or part of a building if the building or part contains two or more flats.

(3)

This Part does not apply to any such premises at a time when—

(a)

the interest of the landlord in the premises is held by an exempt landlord or a resident landlord, or

(b)

the premises are included within the functional land of any charity.

(4)

An application for an order under section 24 may be made—

(a)

jointly by tenants of two or more flats if they are each entitled to make such an application by virtue of this section, and

(b)

in respect of two or more premises to which this Part applies;

and, in relation to any such joint application as is mentioned in paragraph (a), references in this Part to a single tenant shall be construed accordingly.

(5)

Where the tenancy of a flat contained in any such premises is held by joint tenants, an application for an order under section 24 in respect of those premises may be made by any one or more of those tenants.

(6)

An application to the court for it to exercise in relation to any premises any jurisdiction existing apart from this Act to appoint a receiver or manager shall not be made by a tenant (in his capacity as such) in any circumstances in which an application could be made by him for an order under section 24 appointing a manager to act in relation to those premises.

(7)

References in this Part to a tenant do not include references to a tenant under a tenancy to which Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 applies.