Resales – Leasehold and Shared Ownership only   

Arrears may have built up because the resident has died or moved into care and the property has been put on the market for sale. A resident’s next of kin may not be able to afford to make payments until the property is sold and assets realised.  

For this part of the procedure to apply, the leaseholder, power of attorney or someone with grant of probate must have served Notice to Housing 21 of their intention to sell the property and there must be evidence that it is being marketed. Whoever is responsible for selling the property should notify the Sales Team to make them aware of the position- a form is available fro Sales to ensure that all relevant information is obtained.  

At the discretion of the OM/ ECM agreement may be reached to defer payment of any arrears until the property has been sold. This will be on a case by case basis and dependant on length of time to sell the property.   

The leaseholder or their personal representative is still obliged to pay rent or service charge and any offer to defer payment is wholly discretionary. The OM/ ECM should also establish from either next of kin or solicitors if an interim payment is possible from an estate, to minimise the build up of arrears. Any agreement to pay should be recorded on PEBBLEs.  

For leasehold and shared ownership properties it is always possible to recover any arrears from the proceeds of sale.  However, when exercising discretion to defer payment the OM/ ECM must be sure that the proceeds of sale will be sufficient to clear any arrears – especially important where the leaseholder has a small percentage stake (ownership) in the property. If in doubt, please refer to the Sales Team for guidance.