Q&As

If a freeholder agrees to allow a leaseholder to extend their demise, would the surrender and regrant facilitating this change be caught by the right of first refusal?

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Produced in partnership with Jonathan Edwards of Radcliffe Chambers
Published on: 06 September 2016
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Right of first refusal

Part 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) provides that in specified circumstances a landlord is obliged to offer to sell their interest to tenants before otherwise being allowed to dispose of that interest. The precise scope of these provisions is defined in some detail in LTA 1987, but they will apply to the typical private landlord who owns premises containing multiple residential flats that are not let on short-term tenancies. In considering any particular case there is no substitute for checking the statutory provisions carefully.

Where LTA 1987 does apply, the obligation on the landlord is not greatly onerous but it can be inconvenient as the offer to qualifying tenants must be kept open for at least two months. The obligation is reinforced by a criminal sanction under LTA 1987, s 10A, which is now an unlimited fine. See Practice Note: Tenants'

Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards chambers

Barrister, Radcliffe Chambers

Jonathan Edwards practises at Radcliffe Chambers in Lincoln’s Inn. He specialises in contested probate, claims to trust and estate assets, claims for partnership and estate accounts, property litigation including landlord and tenant, and insolvency and commercial disputes.

He is regularly instructed to represent clients in the High Court and County Court, and has been instructed to assist with proceedings in Jersey. Cases in which he has acted include Taylor v Taylor [2017] EWHC 1080 (Ch) and Burki v Seventy Thirty Limited [2018] EWHC 2151 (QB).

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