Section 16F — Exceptions from letting and marketing prohibitions

(1) [F1 Section 16E(2) (prohibition on letting and licensing within restricted period) does not apply where—]

(a) [F1 the relevant person relies on Ground 1 and—]

(i) [F1 the tenant or licensee is a person mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of that ground, or]

(ii) [F1 a person mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of Ground 1 also occupies the dwelling-house and does so as their only or principal home;]

(b) [F1 the relevant person relies on Ground 1A and—]

(i) [F1 the licensee has agreed to purchase the landlord’s interest in the dwelling-house and the licence to occupy is granted in anticipation of that purchase, or]

(ii) [F1 the licensee has agreed to the landlord granting the licensee a lease of the dwelling-house for a term certain of more than 21 years which is not terminable before the end of that term by notice given by or to the landlord, and the licence to occupy is granted in anticipation of the grant of that lease, or]

(2) [F1 Section 16E(3) (prohibition on marketing within restricted period) does not apply where the marketing is in connection with letting, or occupation under a licence, which is permitted as a result of subsection (1).]

(3) [F1 Subsection (4) applies where the relevant person relies on Ground 1A and—]

(a) [F1 before the assured tenancy was entered into, a relevant person had given the tenant under the assured tenancy (“T”) a written statement that the landlord under that tenancy (“L”) is a shared owner of the dwelling-house and that section 16E(2) or (3) might not apply to a subsequent letting, or grant of a licence, of the dwelling-house (because of this subsection and subsection (4)),]

(b) [F1 when the assured tenancy was entered into, L was a shared owner of the dwelling-house, and]

(c) [F1 before the date specified in the notice as mentioned in section 8(3)(b), a relevant person had given the landlord under the shared ownership lease of the dwelling-house a written statement that L intends to assign L’s interest under that shared ownership lease.]

(4) [F1 Section 16E(2) or (3) does not prohibit a relevant person from carrying out a controlled activity if—]

(a) [F1 before the relevant person carries out that activity—]

(i) [F1 the dwelling-house has been valued by a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in connection with the assignment of L’s interest under the shared ownership lease, or]

(ii) [F1 L has advertised, or made an arrangement under which another person has advertised, that the dwelling-house is or may be available for acquisition by way of the assignment of L’s interest under the shared ownership lease, and]

(b) [F1 when the relevant person carries out that activity, L is a shared owner of the dwelling-house.]

(5) [F1 In subsections (3) and (4)—“controlled activity” means an activity that would (if subsection (4) did not apply) be prohibited by section 16E(2) or (3); “shared owner”, in relation to a dwelling-house, means a person—who is the tenant of the dwelling-house under a shared ownership lease, and whose share in the premises demised by the lease is less than 100%; and for this purpose, the tenant’s share in the premises demised is the tenant’s initial share in those premises, plus any additional share or shares in those premises which the tenant has acquired; “shared ownership lease” means a lease—granted on payment of a premium calculated by reference to a percentage of the value of the premises demised by the lease or of the cost of providing them, or under which the tenant (or the tenant’s personal representatives) will or may be entitled to a sum calculated by reference, directly or indirectly, to the value of those premises.]

Amendment notes

1. F1 Ss. 16E-16G inserted (1.5.2026 for specified purposes) by Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (c. 26), ss. 13(1), 145(1)(8) (with ss. 138, 146(1), 147(1)(2), Sch. 6 paras. 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 16, 17) (with power to repeal s. 16F(3)-(5) conferred (27.10.2025) by ss. 13(2), 145(2) of the amending Act); S.I. 2026/421, reg. 2(a) (with reg. 9)