Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016
Restriction on termination of certain tenancies by landlords
40. The Act of 2004 is amended by inserting the following section after section 35:
“35A. (1) In this section—
‘development’ means a development consisting of land upon which there stands erected a building or buildings comprising a unit or units where, as respects such unit or units, it is intended that amenities, facilities and services are to be shared;
‘relevant period of time’ means any period of 6 months within the period—
(a) beginning with the offering for sale in the development concerned of the first dwelling the subject of a tenancy, and
(b) ending with the offering for sale in that development of the last dwelling the subject of a tenancy.
(2) Except where subsection (3) or (4) applies, a Part 4 tenancy shall not be terminated by the landlord on the ground specified in paragraph 3 of the Table to section 34 where the landlord intends to enter into an enforceable agreement—
(a) in respect of dwellings situated within the development concerned,
(b) for the transfer to another, for full consideration, of the whole of his or her interest in 10 or more of those dwellings, each being the subject of such a tenancy, and
(c) to so transfer during a relevant period of time.
(3) (a) Subsection (2) does not apply where the landlord can show to the satisfaction of the Board—
(i) that the price to be obtained by selling at market value the dwelling that is the subject of an existing tenancy to which Part 4 applies is more than 20 per cent below the market value that could be obtained for the dwelling with vacant possession, and
(ii) that the application of that subsection would, having regard to all the circumstances of that case—
(I) be unduly onerous on that landlord, or
(II) would cause undue hardship on that landlord.
(b) In paragraph (a)(i), the reference to the market value of the dwelling is a reference to the estimated amount that would be paid by a willing buyer to a willing seller in an arm’s-length transaction after proper marketing (where appropriate) where both parties act knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion.
(4) Where, before the commencement of section 40 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016, a notice under section 34 of this Act has been served on a tenant specifying as one of the grounds for termination the ground in paragraph 3 of the Table to section 34, then that section shall continue to apply to that notice as if the said section 40 had not been enacted.
(5) Subject to subsection (4), this section applies to all tenancies, including a tenancy created before the coming into operation of this section.”.