Following the decision of the Supreme Court on the power of the First-Tier Tribunal to dispense with the notice requirements of Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the Court has now given directions in the form of an addendum judgment. This relates to certain ancillary matters such as what costs are payable by the landlord to the tenant, when dispensation is to take effect and the effect this has on the tenant’s liability for any interest payable by the tenant.
In its addendum judgment the Court has determined that the landlord is required to pay the tenant’s costs in reasonably investigating and establishing non-compliance with the consultation requirements as a condition of dispensation even though these costs were incurred in earlier and separate proceedings.
The landlord should be prevented from recovering its costs in resisting a determination that he failed to comply with.
It was also appropriate to make an order pursuant to Section 20C.
Dispensation will take effect once all the conditions subject to which dispensation is granted have been determined and where appropriate, satisfied.
Interest on the sum determined will become payable once all the conditions attaching to dispensation have been determined.
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Yashmin Mistry
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