The Leasehold Reform (Notices) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2003

Welsh Statutory Instruments

2003 No. 991 (W.140)

LANDLORD AND TENANT, WALES

The Leasehold Reform (Notices) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2003

Made

2nd April 2003

Coming into force

10th April 2003

The National Assembly for Wales makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers given to the Secretary of State by section 66 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954(1), as applied by section 22(5) of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967(2), which are now vested in it so far as exercisable in Wales(3):

Name, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations are called the Leasehold Reform (Notices) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2003 and come into force on 10th April 2003.

(2) These Regulations apply to Wales only.

Amendment

2.  In the Schedule to the Leasehold Reform (Notices) Regulations 1997(4) for Form 3, substitute the Form in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Application

3.  These Regulations shall apply to a notice in reply given by a landlord, in accordance with paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 3 to the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, on or after the date these Regulations come into force.

Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales under section 66(1) of the Government of Wales Act 1998(5)

D. Elis-Thomas

The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly

2nd April 2003

Regulation 2

SCHEDULE FORM OF LANDLORD'S NOTICE UNDER PART 1 OF THE LEASEHOLD REFORM ACT 1967

FORM LEASEHOLD REFORM ACT 1967

 .  Notes

(References in this Form and these Notes to “the Act” are references to the Leasehold Reform Act 1967)

1.  This notice must be given within two months of the service of the notice of the tenant’s claim. Where there is a chain of landlords, the time limit runs from the date of the first service of the claimant’s notice on any landlord (Schedule 3, paragraphs 7(1) and 8(1)(a) to the Act).

2.  If the landlord admits the claim he will not later be able to dispute the claimant’s right to have the freehold or an extended lease, unless he shows that he was misled by misrepresentation or concealment of material facts, but the admission does not conclude any question as to the correctness of the particulars of the house and premises as set out in the claim (Schedule 3, paragraph 7(4) to the Act).

3.  Schemes approved under section 19 of the Act (retention of management powers for general benefit of neighbourhood) and section 70 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (approval by leasehold valuation tribunal of estate management scheme) provide that within a specified area the landlord will retain powers of management and rights against leasehold houses and premises in the event of the tenants acquiring the freehold.

4.  Where section 9(1) of the Act applies, the purchase price and cost of enfranchisement is determined on the basis of the value of the land and there is no element of marriage value.

• Where section 9(1A) of the Act applies, the purchase price and cost of enfranchisement is determined on the basis of the land and the house including fifty percent of any marriage value (see new section 9(1D) of the Act inserted by section 145 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002(6)). No marriage value is payable if the unexpired term of the lease exceeds eighty years (see new section 9(1E) of the Act inserted by section 146 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002). The fact that the tenant has security of tenure will be taken into account in determining the price.

• Where section 9(1C) of the Act applies, the purchase price and cost of enfranchisement is determined on the same basis as that under section 9(1A) of the Act, except that there is no security of tenure at the end of the lease, and additional compensation may be payable if the sale of the freehold results in the diminution of value of or any other loss or damage in relation to any interest of the landlord in any other property.

5.  If the landlord (on the assumption, where this is not admitted, that the claimant has the right claimed) intends to apply to the court for an order for possession of the premises for redevelopment under section 17 or use as a residence under section 18 of the Act, the notice must say so (Schedule 3, paragraph 7(3) to the Act). (Where a claim is to have a freehold, only certain public authorities or bodies can resist it on the grounds of an intention to redevelop the property).

6.  If the landlord intends to object (under subsection (4) or (5) of section 2 of the Act) to the exclusion from the claim of property let with the house and premises to the tenant but not at the relevant time subject to a tenancy vested in him (see amendment to section 2(4) made by section 138(4) of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002), or to the inclusion of part of the house and premises which projects into other property of the landlord's, notice of his objection must be given before or with this notice, unless the right to give it later is reserved by this notice (Schedule 3, paragraph 7(2) to the Act). In any case, notice of the objection must be given within two months of the service of the claimant’s notice.

7.  Where there is a chain of landlords, this notice must be given by the landlord who is designated as “the reversioner” (see paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act). For this purpose the reversioner is either the landlord whose tenancy carries an expectation of possession of the house and premises of 30 years or more after the expiration of all the inferior tenancies (or, if there is more than one such landlord, the one whose tenancy is nearest to that of the tenant) or, if there is no such landlord, the freeholder.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Leasehold Reform (Notices) Regulations 1997 and provide a new form to be used by landlords replying to claims for enfranchisement and extension of long leaseholds under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (“the 1967 Act”). Provisions of the 1967 Act which are relevant to the Form in the Schedule to these Regulations have been amended by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 as mentioned in the Notes to the Form. The new Form is to be used for notices in reply given on or after the date these Regulations come into force. Forms which are substantially to the same effect as those prescribed may also be used.

(1)

1954 c. 56. Section 66(1) and (2) was amended by S.I. 1974/1896.

(2)

1967 c. 88.

(3)

See the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672).

(4)

S.I. 1997/640; new forms 1 and 2 were substituted by S.I. 2002/3187 (W.303).

(5)

1998 c. 38.

(6)

2002 c. 15.