Residents Fight Landlord's Dodge

11.50.00am GMT Tue 25th Jan 2005

A Twickenham couple is fighting one of Britain's top property companies in the courts for the right to buy their home; and, backed by MP Vincent Cable, are trying to change the law to prevent big landlords from exploiting a legal loophole in the legislation which prevents them.

Simon Suckling and Patricia Austin who live near Twickenham Green are tenants of 20 years standing, in a flat with protected tenancy. Their landlords have sold the freehold of the flats and under the law the couple (and another tenant who is a pensioner) should have been offered first refusal. The tenants wanted to buy to improve the flats which badly need updating and lack central heating. But the big property company Mountview Estates (owned by multi millionaire Duncan Sinclair) has found a way round the legislation. Landlords are allowed to sell off flats individually (rather than to the tenants as a group) and they sold the Twickenham flats to two individuals on the same day who just happened to be directors of Mountview (who then sold on the flats to Mountview on the same day).

Vincent Cable said that the property company was being "very cunning and they seem to have found a genuine loophole. But the spirit of the law is being broken and tenants are being unfairly prevented from acquiring ownership. I have contacted John Prescott and asked him to amend the law to close this loophole. There are many people in the Twickenham area living in small flats above shops and in other private tenancy arrangements who will be deprived of the right to own their own flat by developers unless the law changes.

Contact: Simon Suckling 8755 0104