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RTA 02

 1 QUALIFYING PERIOD FOR RTA 

  1.1 For new tenancies created on or after 18.1.2005 the RTA can only be exercised in cases where the tenant has been a tenant of a public sector landlord, see paragraph 2 below, for a qualifying period of at least five complete years, (s180, Housing Act 2004).
 
 1.2 For tenancies created before 18.1.2005 the qualifying period continues to be two complete years.

 
  2 LIST OF PUBLIC SECTOR LANDLORDS

  2.1 To be eligible for the RTA on the grounds of residence the applicant must be a tenant of any of the public bodies listed below. 

  • a district council 
  • a county council
  • a London borough council 
  • the Common Council of the City of London 
  • a Council on the Isles of Scilly
  • any of the following bodies which were set up when the Greater London Council and the metropolitan county councils were abolished:

 a metropolitan county policy authority the Northumbria Police Authority
 a metropolitan county fire and civil defence authority
 the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority
 a metropolitan county passenger transport authority
 the London Waste Regulation Authority
 the West London, North London, East London and Western Riverside Waste Disposal Authorities
 the Merseyside and Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authorities
 the London Residuary Body
 a metropolitan county residuary body

  • a new town or urban development corporation 
  • the Commission for the New Towns 
  • the Development Board for Rural Wales 
  • a housing action trust 
  • a Registered Social Landlord which is registered with the Housing Corporation or Housing for Wales (including charitable RSLs and RSLs which do not get public funds, but not fully mutual co-ops)
  • The Housing Corporation  
  • Housing for Wales
  • Fire authorities 
  • Internal drainage boards
  • London Regional Transport 
  • Parish councils 
  • Passenger transport executives 
  • Police authorities  
  • AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production 
  •  Agricultural and Food Research Council
  • Area Electricity Boards 
  •  British Airports Authority 
  •  British Broadcasting Corporation
  • British Coal Corporation
  •  British Gas Corporation British Railways Board 
  •  British Steel Corporation British Waterways Board 
  • Central Electricity Generating Board Church Commissioners 
  •  Civil Aviation Authority
  • Electricity Council
  • English Sports Councils
  • Government Departments+ 
  •  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England 
  •  Lake District Special Planning Board
  •  Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
  •  Medical Research Council
  • National Bus Company 
  •  National Health Service Trusts 
  •  National Rivers Authority 
  •  National Environment Research Council
  • Nature Conservancy Council for England
  • Peak Park Joint Planning Board 
  •  Post Office 
  •  Science and Engineering Research Council 
  •  Trinity House ++
  • United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
  • United Kingdom Sports Council
  • Water Authorities 
  •  Community councils in Wales 
     Countryside Council for Wales
  • National Library of Wales 
  •  National Museum of Wales
  •  Sports Council for Wales
  • Welsh Development Agency 
  •  Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses
  • Highlands and Islands Enterprise Board 
  •  North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board
  •  Scottish Homes
  • Scottish Natural Heritage 
  •  Scottish Sports Council
  • South of Scotland Electricity Board
    Education and Library Boards in Northern Ireland 
  •  Fire Authority for Northern Ireland 
  •  Northern Ireland Electricity Service
  • Northern Ireland Housing Executive
  • Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company 
  •  Police Authority for Northern Ireland 
  •  Sports Council for Northern Ireland
  • AND ANY PREDECESSOR OF THESE LANDLORDS

 + InclAudes National Health Service properties
 ++ Only in its capacity as a lighthouse authority

 

2.2 Armed forces accommodation

 For the purposes of establishing a qualifying public sector tenancy, time spent in accommodation provided by the armed services qualifies.

Note: RSLs should refer to schedule 4, paragraphs 6-8 of the Housing (Right to Acquire) Regulations 1997.


3 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

3.1 Subject to a secure or assured tenant occupying a qualifying property provided by a RSL (see Chapter RTA-3), the tenant has the right to purchase the freehold of a house or a lease of a flat (or a house, if the landlord does not own the freehold).  NB. The RTA does not apply where the freehold interest is owned by a non public sector body.

3.2 Where a tenancy is a joint tenancy not all the tenants need to exercise their RTA. Provided agreement is reached with other joint tenants the purchase can proceed in the name of one of them, provided it is that joint tenant's only or principal home. In the event of other joint tenants not agreeing to the purchase, the right to acquire cannot be exercised. Where a joint tenant objects to the application proceeding they should do so in writing to the RSL.


4 CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THE RTA CANNOT BE EXERCISED

4.1 The RTA cannot be exercised if the tenant: 

  • is obliged to give up possession of the tenanted property in pursuance of an order of the court or will be obliged to at a date notified in the order;
  • has a bankruptcy petition pending against him/her;
  • is an undischarged bankrupt;
  • has made an arrangement with creditors the terms of which remain to be fulfilled (that is a formal arrangement under either the Deed of Arrangement Acts 1914 or the Insolvency Act 1986) or
  • is the subject of a suspension order, (see RTA-4 para 10).


 

 
© Housing Corporation 2006