Part I Tenants’ Rights of First Refusal
F1 Rights of first refusal
9 Withdrawal of either party from transaction.
1
Where—
a
section 6(1) applies to a landlord by virtue of any provision of sections 6 to 8, and
b
any person has been nominated for the purposes of section 6 by the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats within the period specified by the landlord in his offer notice under section 5(2)(d) (taking into account any postponement of the commencement of that period effected by any of the preceding provisions of this Part), and
c
the nominated person serves a notice on the landlord indicating an intention no longer to proceed with the acquisition of the protected interest,
the landlord may, during the period of 12 months beginning with the date of service of the nominated person’s notice, dispose of the protected interest to such person as he thinks fit, but subject to the restrictions mentioned in subsection (2).
2
The restrictions referred to in subsection (1) are—
a
that the consideration required by him for the disposal must not be less than the amount which has been agreed to by the parties (subject to contract) for the disposal of the protected interest, and
b
that the other terms on which the disposal is made must correspond to those so agreed to by the parties in relation to the disposal.
3
If at any time the nominated person becomes aware that the number of the qualifying tenants of the constituent flats desiring to proceed with the acquisition of the protected interest is less than the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of those flats, he shall forthwith serve on the landlord such a notice as is mentioned in subsection (1)(c).
4
Where—
a
paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) apply, and
b
the landlord serves a notice on the nominated person indicating an intention no longer to proceed with the disposal of the protected interest,
the landlord shall not be entitled to dispose of that interest in accordance with that subsection but the notice shall have the consequences set out in subsection (5) or (6) (as the case may be).
5
If any notice served in pursuance of subsection (1), (3) or (4) above is served not later than the end of the first four weeks of the period referred to in subsection (1)(b) above, the party serving it shall not be liable for any costs incurred by the other party in connection with the disposal.
6
If any such notice is served after the end of those four weeks, the party on whom it is served may recover from the other party any costs reasonably incurred by the first-mentioned party in connection with the disposal between the end of those four weeks and the time when that notice is served on him.
7
For the purposes of this section the parties are—
a
the landlord, and
b
the qualifying tenants who served the acceptance notice or other notice accepting an offer by the landlord, or (as the case may be) the notice making the counter-offer which was accepted by the landlord, together with the nominated person,
and any liability of those tenants and the nominated person which arises under this section shall be a joint and several liability.
8
Nothing in this section applies where a binding contract for the disposal of the protected interest has been entered into by the landlord and the nominated person.
9
In this section and section 10—
“the nominated person” means the person or persons for the time being nominated for the purposes of section 6 by the requisite majority of qualifying tenants of the constituent flats; and
“the protected interest” means—
a
except where section 6(1) applies to the landlord by virtue of section 7(4) or 8(2), the protected interest as defined by section 6(9); and
b
where section 6(1) applies to the landlord by virtue of section 7(4) or 8(2), any such estate or interest as is mentioned in section 7(4)(a) or (as the case may be) in section 8(2)(a).
Ss. 5, 5A-5E, 6, 7, 8, 8A-8E, 9A, 9B, 10 and crossheading substituted for ss. 5-10 (1.10.1996) by 1996 c. 52, s. 92(1), Sch. 6 Pt. I; S.I. 1996/2212, art. 2(2) (with Sch.)