In this article, Diane Hands looks at the exceptions to the right to buy which will be of interest to all local authorities currently disposing of property within the programme.  The principal legislation is Sections 118,120 and 121 of the Housing Act 1985.

s118 - The right to buy

(1) A secure tenant has the right to buy, that is to say, the right, in the circumstances and subject to the conditions and exceptions stated in the following provisions of this part:

(a) if a dwelling house is a house and the landlord owns the freehold, to acquire the freehold of a dwelling house; or

(b) if the landlord does not own the freehold or if the property is a flat (whether or not the landlord owns the freehold), to be granted a lease of the dwelling house.

(2) Where a secure tenancy is a joint tenancy then, whether or not each of the joint tenants occupies the dwelling-house as his or her only or principal home, the right to buy belongs jointly to all of them or to such one or more of them as may be agreed between them: but such an agreement is not valid unless the person, or at least one of the persons to whom the right to buy is to belong, occupies the dwelling house as his or her only or principal home.

If a secure tenant ceases to be secure before completion of purchase for reasons such as moving out after starting the procedure, the right to buy is no longer available see Sutton LBC -v- Swann (1986). Similarly, if the tenancy is determined by a tenant’s notice to quit the right to buy ceases, (see Bater -v- Greenwich LBC).

s120 - The exceptions to a right to buy

The right to buy does not arise in the cases specified in Schedule 5 (outlined below) namely:-

1. charitable housing association or housing trust landlord

2. co-operative housing association landlord

3. housing association landlord which has at no time received public funds, as defined in Schedule 5 paragraph 3

4.landlord with insufficient leasehold interest

5. certain dwelling houses let in connection with employment, in relation to non-housing purposes

6. groups of dwellings for the disabled – designed and constructed or converted with special features, subsequently adapted in specified ways, and sheltered accommodation

7. sheltered accommodation for those with a mental disorder

8. two classes of accommodation for the elderly – single dwellings and sheltered accommodation

9. dwelling houses in which a superior interest belongs to the Crown.

If you are one of the types of landlords set out above or the property is of the type described above, then it may well be the right to buy does not apply. In such circumstances, it is essential to take legal advice before proceeding with the process.