Prohibition Notices and Improvement Notices
The Conveyancing Committee has been asked whether Prohibition Notices served by Local Authorities on the owner of a rented property can affect a subsequent purchaser.
The answer is that they can do so.
Recent media coverage disclosed that nearly three quarters of privately rented properties inspected by local authorities failed to meet minimum standards. Of the 61,141 private rental inspections carried out countrywide until the end of September 2024, 44,699 or 71% failed to meet minimum standards. This resulted in 42,399 improvement letters being issued to landlords while a further 2,213 improvement notices were served. Some 165 prohibition notices were served directing landlords not to re-let the properties until all breaches were remedied.
Prohibition Notices are served under s18B of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 as inserted by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and as such are Notices required to be disclosed under Requisition 12.1(a) and under General Condition 31 of the Contract for Sale (Revised Edition) 2023.
Prohibition Notices arise in the context of a private rented property where a local authority has carried out an inspection and has subsequently served an Improvement Notice which sets out the works that a landlord must carry out to a property to remedy a breach of the minimum standards in rented property regulations.
If a landlord fails to carry out these works a local authority may issue a Prohibition Notice directing that landlord not to re-let the property until such time as the breach of the regulations has been rectified.
Where a property is re-let in breach of a Prohibition Notice the landlord may be prosecuted and if convicted, may be subject to a fine or term of imprisonment.
The Conveyancing Committee has been advised that there is presently no central register of such Prohibition Notices, however a number of local authorities have published lists on their websites of properties where Prohibition Notices have been served. This is obviously unsatisfactory.
The committee advises solicitors that when acting in a sale of property the vendor should be asked to confirm whether or not either an Improvement Notice, or a Prohibition Notice has been served.
Likewise, when acting in a purchase of property the purchaser’s solicitor should make the appropriate enquires, particularly where the property is to be let (rented) by the purchaser following completion.
The Pre-Contract Sale and Purchase Questionnaires are under review by the committee and the above advice will be reflected in the revisions.