TOLATA 1996 s. 14

Force house sale or declare interest: TOLATA 1996 s. 14

Under TOLATA 1996 s. 14, trustees or interest holders can apply for court orders on trustee functions or declaring property interests. No trustee removal.

Official text TOLATA 1996 s. 14 — United Kingdom

Any person who is a trustee of land or has an interest in property subject to a trust of land may make an application to the court for an order under this section. On an application for an order under this section the court may make any such order— relating to the exercise by the trustees of any of their functions (including an order relieving them of any obligation to obtain the consent of, or to consult, any person in connection with the exercise of any of their functions), or declaring the nature or extent of a person’s interest in property subject to the trust, as the court thinks fit. The court may not under this section make any order as to the appointment or removal of trustees. The powers conferred on the court by this section are exercisable on an application whether it is made before or after the commencement of this Act.

Text in force at .

Source: legislation.gov.uk — The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), reproduced under licence Open Government Licence v3.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

Section 14 is the application that gets a co-ownership deadlock in front of a judge. Any person who is a trustee of land, or who has an interest in property subject to a trust of land, may apply to the court. The court may then make any order it thinks fit relating to the exercise by the trustees of any of their functions - which includes the power of sale, and includes relieving the trustees of an obligation to obtain a consent or to consult - or declaring the nature or extent of a person's interest in the property.

Those two limbs cover almost every dispute between co-owners. "Order the property to be sold" is an order relating to the exercise of the trustees' functions. "Decide that I own 70% because I paid the deposit" is a declaration of the nature or extent of a person's interest. So is an order that one owner may live there and the other be compensated, which reaches the court through the section 13 powers. The standing test - having an interest in property subject to the trust - is wide enough to include a secured creditor of a beneficiary, which is how a lender or a trustee in bankruptcy comes to be applying for the sale of a family home.

Subsection (3) states the one thing the court cannot do under this section: it may not make any order as to the appointment or removal of trustees. Section 14 says nothing about how the court should decide; the criteria are in section 15, and where the applicant is a trustee in bankruptcy the different regime in section 335A of the Insolvency Act 1986 applies instead.

When it applies

  • A separated unmarried couple where one wants the house sold and the other refuses.
  • Siblings who inherited a house jointly and cannot agree what to do with it.
  • A dispute about the size of each owner's share where the deposit and the payments were unequal.
  • A co-owner who wants a declaration recorded before a sale goes ahead.
  • A lender or creditor applying for sale of a property in which the debtor has a share.

What this section does not say

  • It does not say how the court will decide. The relevant matters are in section 15.
  • It is not available for the appointment or removal of trustees. Subsection (3) rules that out expressly.
  • It is not a divorce remedy. Married couples and civil partners have the far wider financial remedy powers in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and a TOLATA claim is normally what unmarried couples use instead.
  • It does not create beneficial interests. The court declares what the interests are; establishing a share you are not on the deeds for depends on the law of trusts.
  • It does not apply where section 335A of the Insolvency Act 1986 governs - that is, on an application by a trustee in bankruptcy.

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

Two sisters inherit their mother's house. One has lived in it rent free for two years and refuses either to sell or to buy the other out. Correspondence has stopped working.

How the wording applies

Section 14 lets any trustee, or anyone with an interest in the property, apply for an order relating to the exercise of the trustees' functions - which includes the power of sale - or declaring the nature or extent of a person's interest. The fact that shapes this particular application is that it needs both limbs: an order about sale, and, if the shares are disputed, a declaration of what they are. The section says nothing about how the court will decide, which is section 15.

How the parties settled it

They agree an independent valuation, a three-month window for the resident sister to buy the other out at that figure, and an open-market sale if she does not.

Illustrative example

An unmarried couple separate. The house is in one name only, but the other paid the deposit and half the mortgage for eight years and wants that recognised before anything is sold.

How the wording applies

The declaratory limb is what is needed first here: an order declaring the nature or extent of a person's interest in the property. The fact that has to be proved is the existence of a beneficial interest in the first place, because section 14 declares interests rather than creating them - establishing a share when you are not on the deeds depends on the law of trusts, and the deposit and payment history is the evidence for it.

How the parties settled it

They agree a share reflecting the deposit and the recorded mortgage contributions, recorded in a signed declaration, with the property sold and the proceeds split on that basis.

Illustrative example

A lender holding a charge over one co-owner's share applies for the property to be sold. The other co-owner, who has no debt of their own, is living there with their children.

How the wording applies

The standing test - having an interest in property subject to the trust - is wide enough to include a secured creditor of a beneficiary, which is how a lender comes to be applying about a family home. The fact that changes the analysis is whose debt it is: the application is against one owner's beneficial share, and the other owner's position is weighed under section 15, which lists a secured creditor's interests as one factor among several.

How the parties settled it

The parties agree a deferred sale in two years with interest paid monthly in the meantime, and the resident co-owner given first refusal to redeem the charge at any point before then.

The same problem elsewhere

The other legal systems in this collection answer the same everyday problem with their own provisions.

The comparison and these one-line summaries are in English.

Siblings inherited the house and one will not sell: what the law says in 7 jurisdictions

Read the full comparison →

Related sections

TOLATA 1996 s. 15 Intentions, minor welfare, creditors: TOLATA 1996 s. 15 TOLATA 1996 s. 12 Right to occupy trust land: TOLATA 1996 s. 12 TOLATA 1996 s. 13 Exclude co-owners & pay occupation rent: TOLATA 1996 s. 13 TOLATA 1996 s. 7 Section 7 TOLATA 1996: dividing co-owned land instead of selling it

That's the law. Now let's settle your problem.

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.

This is with

Or open a session directly and invite the other party.

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 TOLATA 1996 s. 14 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.

← All UK legislation pages