Section 24A Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: ordering the sale of property on divorce
Section 24A MCA 1973 lets the court order a sale, but only alongside a lump sum, secured payments or property adjustment order - and third parties must be heard.
Official text
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MCA 1973 s. 24A — United Kingdom
Where the court makes an order under section 22ZA or makes under section 23 or 24 of this Act a secured periodical payments order, an order for the payment of a lump sum or a property adjustment order, then, on making that order or at any time thereafter, the court may make a further order for the sale of such property as may be specified in the order, being property in which or in the proceeds of sale of which either or both of the parties to the marriage has or have a beneficial interest, either in possession or reversion. Any order made under subsection (1) above may contain such consequential or supplementary provisions as the court thinks fit and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, may include— provision requiring the making of a payment out of the proceeds of sale of the property to which the order relates, and provision requiring any such property to be offered for sale to a person, or class of persons, specified in the order. Where an order is made under subsection (1) above on or after the making of a divorce or nullity of marriage order, the order under subsection (1) is not to take effect unless the divorce or nullity of marriage order has been made final. Where an order is made under subsection (1) above, the court may direct that the order, or such provision thereof as the court may specify, shall not take effect until the occurrence of an event specified by the court or the expiration of a period so specified. Where an order under subsection (1) above contains a provision requiring the proceeds of sale of the property to which the order relates to be used to secure periodical payments to a party to the marriage, the order shall cease to have effect on the death or re-marriage of , or formation of a civil partnership by, that person. Where a party to a marriage has a beneficial interest in any property, or in the proceeds of sale thereof, and some other person who is not a party to the marriage also has a beneficial interest in that property or in the proceeds of sale thereof, then, before deciding whether to make an order under this section in relation to that property, it shall be the duty of the court to give that other person an opportunity to make representations with respect to the order; and any representations made by that other person shall be included among the circumstances to which the court is required to have regard under section 25(1) below. See also section 52A (interpretation of certain references to divorce orders, nullity of marriage orders and judicial separation orders).
Section 24A supplies the order that makes the others workable: a direction that specified property be sold. The important feature is that it is not free-standing. The power arises only where the court makes an order under section 22ZA, or a secured periodical payments order, an order for the payment of a lump sum, or a property adjustment order - and then, on making that order or at any time afterwards, it may order a sale of property in which either or both parties has a beneficial interest, in possession or reversion.
Subsection (2) allows consequential and supplementary provisions, and gives two examples that matter in practice: requiring a payment to be made out of the proceeds, and requiring the property to be offered for sale to a specified person or class of persons - which is how a first refusal to one spouse, or to a family member, is built into an order. Subsection (4) allows the court to defer the sale until a specified event or the expiry of a specified period, and that is the statutory basis of the order postponing sale of a family home until the youngest child finishes school.
Subsection (6) is the provision that protects people who are not parties to the divorce. Where someone other than a spouse also has a beneficial interest in the property or its proceeds - a parent who contributed to the deposit, a co-owning sibling, a business partner - the court has a duty to give that person an opportunity to make representations before deciding, and those representations are then among the circumstances the court must weigh under section 25. Subsection (3) confirms that a sale order made on or after a divorce or nullity order does not take effect until that order is final.
When it applies
A family home that must be sold to fund a lump sum to one spouse.
An order deferring the sale of the home until the youngest child leaves school.
A house co-owned with a parent or sibling who contributed to the purchase.
One spouse wanting the right to buy the other out before any open-market sale.
A second property or a plot of land that needs to be realised to satisfy an order.
What this section does not say
×It is not available on its own. There must be a section 22ZA order, secured periodical payments order, lump sum order or property adjustment order for the sale power to arise.
×It does not apply to property in which neither party has a beneficial interest.
×It does not allow a third party's interest to be ignored. Subsection (6) requires them to be given an opportunity to make representations.
×It does not decide the shares of the proceeds. That comes from the substantive order the sale supports.
×It does not take effect before the divorce order is final where it is made on or after that order.
Worked examples
Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.
Illustrative example
A couple's parents put sixty thousand pounds towards the deposit on the family home and were told they would get it back. The court is now being asked to order a sale as part of the divorce.
How the wording applies
The sale power is not free-standing: it arises only where the court makes one of the listed orders, so there must be a lump sum, secured periodical payments or property adjustment order for it to attach to. The fact that protects the parents is subsection (6): where a third party has a beneficial interest in the property, they must be given an opportunity to make representations, and the court has regard to them.
How the parties settled it
The parents' contribution is documented and repaid from the gross sale proceeds before the balance is divided, and they confirm in writing that they make no further claim.
Illustrative example
Both parents agree the family home should eventually be sold but disagree about when. One wants the money now; the other wants to keep the children in the same school for another four years.
How the wording applies
Subsection (4) lets the court defer a sale until a specified event or the expiry of a specified period, which is the statutory basis of the order postponing sale of a family home. Subsection (2) adds the supplementary provisions that make such an order workable - directing a payment out of the proceeds, or requiring the property to be offered first to a specified person. The fact that has to be fixed now is the trigger event, because an order that defers a sale without one is a source of the next argument.
How the parties settled it
They agree the sale is deferred until the younger child's eighteenth birthday or an earlier remarriage or cohabitation, with the resident parent meeting the mortgage and the proceeds split in fixed percentages.
Say what is happening. A neutral mediator hears your side and the other party's, and walks you both to a written agreement. In the advanced settings you can ask for the decision to be reasoned on the Acts of Parliament that apply in England and Wales.
We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.
This page reproduces the text of MCA 1973 s. 24A in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in England and Wales.