Invalid right to first refusal offer?

Hi, My daughter’s freeholder and management company (since disengaged) have been a nightmare for many years. Not engaging with the tenants to complete repairs and maintenance. Starting section 20 procedure and letting it lapse. Ignoring communication.

She is in a block of 4 flats with a commercial property underneath. They started the appointment of a manager process which was ignored but prompted him to issue a section 5A offer notice for right to first refusal to buy the freehold. Three of the four residential flats were interested in pursuing this at the price offered.

However, the offer notice had a clause which said: ‘The landlord shall prior to completion grant a 999 year lease of ground floor and basement/commercial property, to such party, on such terms, and for such consideration, as the Landlord shall require. In which case the sale of the property shall be subject to that lease (in addition to the leases at paragraph 5 of this notice. (the 4 residential leases).’

The leaseholders didn’t feel that they should accept the offer without actually seeing the new lease and the lease of the commercial property. After asking to see these leases they were eventually provided a few days before the date to accept the offer ran out. They asked for an extension to consider the leases but the response for an extension was unfairly punitive and they had to let the offer lapse.

Shouldn’t the leases have been provided in the first place as part of the principal terms of the offer?

Do the leaseholders have any redress now. If the freeholder sells the freehold to someone else now can they do anything about it?

Thank you,

LL