Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993

5Qualifying tenants

(1)Subject to the following provisions of this section, a person is a qualifying tenant of a flat for the purposes of this Chapter if he is tenant of the flat under a long lease at a low rent.

(2)Subsection (1) does not apply where—

(a)the lease is a business lease; or

(b)the immediate landlord under the lease is a charitable housing trust and the flat forms part of the housing accommodation provided by it in the pursuit of its charitable purposes; or

(c)the lease was granted by sub-demise out of a superior lease other than a long lease at a low rent, the grant was made in breach of the terms of the superior lease, and there has been no waiver of the breach by the superior landlord;

and in paragraph (b) “charitable housing trust” means a housing trust within the meaning of the [1985 c. 68.] Housing Act 1985 which is a charity within the meaning of the [1993 c. 10.] Charities Act 1993.

(3)No flat shall have more than one qualifying tenant at any one time.

(4)Accordingly—

(a)where a flat is for the time being let under two or more leases to which subsection (1) applies, any tenant under any of those leases which is superior to that held by any other such tenant shall not be a qualifying tenant of the flat for the purposes of this Chapter; and

(b)where a flat is for the time being let to joint tenants under a lease to which subsection (1) applies, the joint tenants shall (subject to paragraph (a) and subsection (5)) be regarded for the purposes of this Chapter as jointly constituting the qualifying tenant of the flat.

(5)Where apart from this subsection—

(a)a person would be regarded for the purposes of this Chapter as being (or as being among those constituting) the qualifying tenant of a flat contained in any particular premises consisting of the whole or part of a building, but

(b)that person would also be regarded for those purposes as being (or as being among those constituting) the qualifying tenant of each of two or more other flats contained in those premises,

then, whether that person is tenant of the flats referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) under a single lease or otherwise, there shall be taken for those purposes to be no qualifying tenant of any of those flats.

(6)For the purposes of subsection (5) in its application to a body corporate any flat let to an associated company (whether alone or jointly with any other person or persons) shall be treated as if it were so let to that body; and for this purpose “associated company” means another body corporate which is (within the meaning of section 736 of the [1985 c. 6.] Companies Act 1985) that body’s holding company, a subsidiary of that body or another subsidiary of that body’s holding company.