The Right to Buy (RTB) process is managed by various legal time limits. As a result, a straightforward transaction should take around seven months to complete from receipt of the application to handing over the title. So can Right to Buy applications be refused?

One of the most important time limits is the one month period within which a landlord must refuse or reject an application to buy under the RTB legislation.

Failure to act timeously may result in the landlord being forced to sell the property to the tenant even if the tenant did not actually have the right to buy in the first place.

There is precedent for this and the ruling was in favour of the tenant. The case of East of Scotland Water Authority v Livingstone is a perfect example of what can happen if this time limit is not adhered to and no refusal notice is issued. In that case:

• the landlord, East of Scotland Water Authority received an application from their tenant who did not have an entitlement under the RTB legislation.
• the landlord unfortunately did not respond to the application as the tenant did not have any right to buy.
• the tenant raised the matter with the Lands Tribunal and proved to the Tribunal that an application was lodged properly but no notice of refusal was ever issued by the landlord.
• the Tribunal held that as the landlord had not issued a refusal within one month of receiving the application, they were held to have accepted it and to have accepted that the tenant was entitled to buy the property he was currently renting.
• the Tribunal then made an order for the landlord to issue an Offer to sell the property to the tenant despite the fact that the tenant did not actually have any right to buy under the legislation. The Tribunal indicated that this ruling was as a direct result of the landlord not issuing a refusal notice to the tenant laying out the reasons for same.

You can see from the case summarised above how important it is to issue any notice of refusal of an application submitted under the RTB legislation as soon as possible and certainly within the one month period provided. Remember, it is easier to reverse a bad refusal than to try and reverse inaction or delay.

If you have been asked the question - can right to buy applications be refused? - get in touch with our Right to Buy Team.

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