Right of refusal in our freehold contract?

MNrhubarb

When we bought our house 6 years ago it was a repossession, part owned by a housing association and a bank. It was a nightmare from start to finish. The contract they first sent us was one they normally send to renting tenants and forbade us from making any changes to the interior of the house without their permission. The solicitor we had didn't read the contract, so we had to pick up on and question everything that was in there.

We finally agreed - even though we were buying the property wholly as a freehold, that the housing association can have right of first refusal if we came to sell and we had to ask their permission to make any amendments to the exterior of the property.

We are considering selling now and I've been doing some research to see what we need to do in order to give them first refusal. Trouble is I can't find any similar freehold contracts online. It seems that this clause is only for when a property has been bought from the HA in the first place under a Right to Buy scheme, which does not apply to us, or for a landlord who wishes to sell and who has to give the tenants first refusal - again this does not apply to us. In fact the legislation in law comes from the Landlord and Tenant Act. We were never tenants of the HA and they did not own the whole property when it was sold to us, they only owned part of it. So are we still legally obliged to give them first refusal?

I have emailed them to ask what the procedure is and they replied with documents about us selling our shares in the property, which is completely off the mark, so I fear that they are as clueless about this as we are.

eddddy

You need to read the contract you signed and/or the relevant covenant in the title deed of your property.


You probably won't find any clues online, as it sounds like a contractual agreement or covenant between you and your freeholder - rather than something governed by legislation.