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The law around dealing with an improvement notice has been thrown into disarray for landlords following a tribunal judgment.
Until a landmark decision in the Upper Tribunal changed everything, to appeal an improvement notice, a landlord had to present a claim to a tribunal within 21 days of receiving the notice.
The appeal typically suspended the notice, allowing time for a hearing.
Appeals can be based on disagreements with the inspector's assessment or the perceived risk of serious personal injury.
During the suspension, the landlord had time to carry out repairs and maintenance, knowing the tribunal would consider the state of the property on the hearing date. As many landlords completed the necessary improvements before the hearing, most notices were quashed before reaching the tribunal.
However, the latest ruling has changed this.
In the case of Lambeth Council, London, an improvement notice was issued against Manaquel Company Ltd.
The company owned almost 100 flats in eight blocks. Following inspections in 2021, Lambeth identified several hazards related to excessive cold, excessive heat, and hot surfaces and materials, and served an improvement notice requiring extensive remedial work to eliminate the hazards, including replacing windows and work on the heating system.
Manaquel appealed the notice, arguing that the hazards did not exist, that an application for planning permission for works that would eliminate the hazards was underway, and that the notice was deficient for not specifying which windows required replacement.
When the appeal against the notice reached the First Tier Tribunal in 2023, the company claimed that most of the hazards had been reduced or eliminated.
The case eventually reached the Upper Tribunal, which found that the First Tier Tribunal approached the case incorrectly.
Instead of rehearing the case and deciding whether to quash the notice based on the state of the property on the date of appeal, the tribunal should examine the evidence that led to the issuing of the notice.
This moves the tribunal's focus away from the current state of a property during the suspension back to the state when the notice was issued.
The ruling may not affect many landlords, but those served with an improvement notice will now find it harder to overturn the notice. An appeal is only likely to be successful if the council has made a mistake when issuing the notice.
No order was made regarding costs.
Read the Upper Tribunal judgement Manaquel Co Ltd v Lambeth LC-2024-608