Tenant Granted Permission to Purchase Freehold Interest Under Leasehold Reform Act

OUTCOME: Allowed

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FIRST-TIER TRIBUNAL PROPERTY CHAMBER (RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY) Case reference : BIR/00CR/OAF/2025/0010 Property : 72 [ADDRESS] [POSTCODE] Applicants : [redacted] :

[NAME]

Respondent: [redacted] : Not applicable (missing landlord) Type of [NAME] : [NAME] under sections 21(1) and 27(5) of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (“the 1967 Act”) Tribunal members :

[NAME] [NAME] : Remote Date of paper determination :

12 December 2025

Date of issue : 05 January 2026

DECISION

Decision of the Tribunal (1) The tribunal determines that the price to be paid by the applicant for the purchase of the freehold on statutory terms is £2,472.

2

The Background 1. This is an [NAME] under section 21 (1) (a) of the 1967 Act pursuant to an order made by Deputy District Judge Howard sitting at the County Court at Dudley on 28 July 2025 (“the order”).

2. Sections 21(1) and 27(5) of the 1967 Act concerns claims for the purchase of the reversionary freehold interest where the relevant landlord cannot be found. It enables the court to make a vesting order in respect of any interests of the landlord which are liable to acquisition.

3. Under section 27(5)(a) of the 1967 Act, the role of the tribunal is to determine the appropriate sum to be paid into court in respect of the landlord’s interests. This to be done in accordance with section 9 of the 1967 Act.

4. The applicant in this matter is [APPELLANT]. They are the qualifying tenants of 72 [ADDRESS] [POSTCODE] (“the Property”) with a long tenancy within the meaning of section 3(1) of the 1967 Act. The respondent freehold owners are the successors in title to Mr [NAME] and Mrs [NAME].

5. The statement of case submitted on behalf of the applicant confirms that following an [NAME] to Court on 26 March 2025, a Part 8 Claim was issued at Dudley County Court for an order pursuant to section 21(1) of the 1967 Act seeking the freehold of the Property.

6. The applicant has been unable to ascertain the whereabouts of the respondents. The applicant subsequently applied for a vesting order under section 27(1) of the 1967 Act. The vesting order was granted subject to the determination of this tribunal.

7. The applicant has provided the tribunal with a valuation report prepared by Mr [NAME] [NAME], a Consultant Chartered Surveyor acting on behalf of [NAME] dated 4 August 2025.

8. Mr [NAME] is of the view that the premium to be paid for the freehold is £2,100 as at the valuation date adopted of 1 April 2025. The Determination i. After scrutiny of the valuation report dated 4 August 2025, the tribunal accepts the opinions expressed by Mr [NAME] save that:

3 ii. [NAME] has allocated 33% of the Entirety Value to the site value. The tribunal has reviewed the site size, shape and location of the property. It has had regard for the size of the plot the property occupies and the plot sizes of the comparable property transactions submitted by [NAME]. The dwelling is situated adjacent to a car parking area with a garage at the rear. There are gardens to front and rear of the dwelling. iii. The Upper Tribunal decision, [NAME] v Liverpool City Council (LRA/78/2015) provides guidance on the matters to consider in determination of the appropriate percentage of the entirety value attributable to the site. In accordance with this guidance and previous Upper Tribunal decisions this tribunal has deemed 37.5 % of the Entirety Value should be adopted as the apportioned site value in the premium valuation.

iv. The Standing House value given by [NAME] is £167,600. This is based upon the analysis of a single comparable property sale, [ADDRESS] at £167,400 in July 2023 and the sale price of £127,500 following the sale of the subject property subject to the 70.3 years unexpired term in April 2022. The tribunal note that the sales of these two properties took place some time ago, and the Standing House value is based upon the average price for these two sales corrected for date of sale and relativity. The tribunal would prefer that the Standing House Value is based upon comparable transaction evidence at the valuation date. This is in accordance with the Upper Tribunal guidance [COMPANY] v [COMPANY] 2022 [UKUT 231(LC)] which emphasises the use of a range of comparable sales transactions in valuation of the freehold interest.

v. The tribunal has reviewed the valuation made by [NAME] and based upon their knowledge and experience at the valuation date has adjusted this average value offered by [NAME] with a 7.5 % supplement to reflect the property location, gardens to front and rear and garage with separate access. The 7.5% uplift applied by the tribunal to the proposed value produces a Standing House value of £182,750.

9. An adjusted calculation that adopts the revised Entirety Value parameter as described at paragraphs (i) – (v) results in a freehold purchase premium of £2,472. A copy of the tribunal’s valuation is attached to this decision.

10.

Accordingly, the tribunal determines that the premium to be paid in respect of the purchase of the freehold of the property is £2,472.

11. This matter should now be returned to the County Court sitting at Dudley under Claim Number MOODD206 in order for the final procedures to take place.

4 [NAME] A : Premium Valuation

5

RIGHTS OF APPEAL 1. If a party wishes to appeal this decision to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) then a written [NAME] for permission must be made to the First-tier Tribunal at the Regional Office which has been dealing with the case.

2. The [NAME] for permission to appeal must arrive at the Regional Office within 28-days after the Tribunal sends written reasons for the Decision to the [NAME].

3. If the [NAME] is not made within the 28-day time limit, such [NAME] must include a request for an extension of time and the reason for not complying with the 28-day time limit; the Tribunal will then look at such reason(s) and decide whether to allow the [NAME] for permission to appeal to proceed despite not being within the time limit.

4. The [NAME] for permission to appeal must identify the decision of the Tribunal to which it relates (ie, give the date, the property and the case number), state the grounds of appeal and state the result the party [NAME] the [NAME] is seeking.