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Section 10A: Offence of failure to comply with requirements of Part I.

Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 · 1987 c. 31View on legislation.gov.uk

Our take on Section 10A: Offence of failure to comply with requirements of Part I.

Selling a block of flats without first offering it to the tenants who qualify is usually a crime, and for offences since 12 March 2015 the fine is unlimited. In our view prosecution rarely helps the residents. The local housing authority is the named prosecutor, and it must start within 6 months of the disposal, which dates from exchange of contracts, not completion. The first known prosecution, reported in 2023, was withdrawn because it was brought too late. A conviction would not undo the sale either. After the new owner tells you about your rights, a majority of qualifying tenants have 6 months to serve a purchase notice making the buyer sell to their nominee on the original terms.

Part I: Tenants' Rights of First Refusal

A landlord commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he makes a relevant disposal affecting premises to which this Part applies—

without having first complied with the requirements of section 5 as regards the service of notices on the qualifying tenants of flats contained in the premises, or
in contravention of any prohibition or restriction imposed by sections 6 to 10.

A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Proceedings for an offence under this section may be brought by a local housing authority (within the meaning of section 1 of the Housing Act 1985).

Nothing in this section affects the validity of the disposal.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.