Council Right of First Refusal

da_rule

I assume that your solicitor has checked that the transfer wouldn't be an exempted transfer under the Housing Act? Certain transfers between family members do not trigger pre-emption or discount repayment.

I also assume that you are outside of the 5 year discount repayment period?

Technically, you could not withdraw the offer if accepted.

If you serve a notice offering the council the property that is compliant with The Housing (Right of First Refusal) (England) Regulations 2005 and the council don't reply in time or refuse to purchase the property then you can, within a year of the refusal/expiry of the limit to reply dispose of the property.

If they accept an offer then you either agree a price or appoint the district valuer (which freezes the time limits). The council must then enter into a contract with you either 12 weeks after their notice saying they want to buy the property, or 4 weeks after you give them notice that you are ready to complete (whichever is later). This therefore could be your workaround, as you would simply not serve the notice saying you are ready to complete.

However, this does mean that you are bound to sell the property to them, at the value it has at the time you served your notice, in the future.

Unfortunately, under the Housing Act and the Regulations, there is no mechanism for you to withdraw your offer or for the council to 'let you off' should you opt to not serve completion notice on them.

Therefore, you should only serve the notice if you either (a) want to sell them the property now or (b) sell the property to them in the future (even after the 10 years has expired) for its value today.

G_M

You sound like you know what you're talking about da_rule so I'll bow to your superior knowledge here.

supa34

Do you transfer house onto family member, then carry on living in that house as "tenents". After a while mention the "money" has been spent and get housing benefit?

Mr_Big

Thanks for all the helpful responses. Yes, we're past the discount period. To be honest, I thought they were just saying it to scare us out of attempting the transfer but after reading what da_rule has said, I guess this is actually true then. I'm not sure if the solicitors checked if the house was exempt to be honest, I understand that no one can give a definitive answer, but does anyone have a rough/general idea of what constitutes for an exempt disposal? And is this something you can ask your local council?

Da_Rule, you mentioned delaying the notice as a work around to expire they offer if they exercised right of first refusal, I assume this is too risky a move to play with considering we could lose the property?

Norman, I will give them another ring just to make sure.

Not that I should entertain the pessimist cynics, but there's no hidden agenda here. I've stated what we're trying go do and why. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn't even know you could do what you're talking about. How can the money even be "spent" if the house hasn't been sold? Anyway, back to the matter at hand. All advice appreciated. Thanks

David_Evans

supa34 wrote: »

Do you transfer house onto family member, then carry on living in that house as "tenents". After a while mention the "money" has been spent and get housing benefit?

You can not claim HB for a property you have previously owned.

da_rule

The notice would never expire, it simply means that you can’t be compelled to complete the sale until you say you are ready, however you will be locked in to selling at the price you agree when you serve the first notice.

The Housing Act clearly sets out what types of transfer/between what parties are classed as exempt.

David_Evans

I'm sure the OP's solicitor / conveyancer will (or should) know all this already.
If not, I'd be looking around for a more informed one!

Mr_Big

Ok, I've just checked up the housing act. Can I just ask two questions.

1. If I've lived at the property for 12 months and am a family member of the home owner of said property, this qualifies me as an exempt disposal for transfer of ownership. If so, does this mean I don't need to notify the council and/or ask permission to do so?

2. If I do still need to notify/ask the council. What constitutes as evidence that I've lived in the property for 12 months? Is proof of paid council tax with my name included as a tenant sufficient?

Thanks.

da_rule

If you are a family member (as defined by section 186) then this should be sufficient.

The exact wording of the restriction on the title will detail what you need. Some will be worded so that the Council has to give a certificate that it’s an exempted disposal others may be worded so that a certificate from any conveyancer/solicitor will suffice. If you do need a certificate from the Council then you will need to satisfy them that the exemption applies and they will have to advise what evidence they require. However, Council Tax and electoral roll would be a good start.

silvercar

da_rule wrote:

However, this does mean that you are bound to sell the property to them, at the value it has at the time you served your notice, in the future.

what happens if the council are not buying properties at a time when you decide you want to sell, say a few years down the line?