Section 1 — Ban on grant or assignment of certain long residential leases of houses

(1) A person may not grant or enter into an agreement to grant a long residential lease of a house on or after the day on which this section comes into force, unless it is a permitted lease (see section 7).

(2) A person may not assign or enter into an agreement to assign the whole or a part of a lease which was granted on or after the day on which this section comes into force if—

(a) at the time of the assignment the lease is a long residential lease of a house, but

(b) at the time of the grant the lease was not a long residential lease of a house.

(3) This section does not affect—

(a) the validity of a lease granted, or an assignment entered into, in breach of this section, and does not affect the powers of a person to grant or assign such a lease (whether under section 23(1) of the Land Registration Act 2002 or otherwise);

(b) any contractual rights of a party to an agreement entered into in breach of this section.