The Right to Buy (RTB) process is littered with various time limits which are all too familiar to landlords. However, it seems to be that some landlords are willing to run the risk of losing stock through the Right to Buy when they don't necessarily have to. So can housing associations refuse a Right to Buy application?

There are noted cases where tenants who, had the landlords acted timeously, would not have been entitled to buy their rented property.

When an application is received under the Right to Buy legislation and you think the applicant does not have the Right to Buy, it is very important to issue written refusal without delay. Landlords have only one month to refuse/reject an application submitted under the Right to Buy. An incorrect refusal/rejection is an awful lot easier to correct than inaction where the tenant has no RTB entitlement.

One case in point is East of Scotland Water Authority v Livingstone. 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 did not respond to the application on the basis that the tenant did not have any right to buy.
• The tenant went through the correct procedure in terms of the legislation to force the landlord to issue an offer and ultimately raised the matter with the Lands Tribunal.
• The tenant proved to the Tribunal that an application was lodged properly but no notice of refusal was ever issued.
• 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 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.

As the above case highlights, it is important that any right to buy application lodged by non-entitled tenants is refused in writing within one month explaining the reason for the refusal. Failing which the landlord is deemed to have accepted the application and that the tenants concerned do have a right to buy.

Given the upcoming abolition of the Right to Buy in Scotland (which was given Royal Assent on 1 August 2014, although no actual 'end date' has been officially set), there is likely to be a surge in applications by tenants keen to exercise this right before it disappears potentially forever. For more information on Right to Buy applications please contact our property team.