CA-2024-001597 - [2025] EWCA Civ 1308

Abacus appeals to this Court, with permission granted by Snowden LJ. A number of grounds are articulated in its Grounds of Appeal, but I think there is really only one ground, namely that the Judge erred in construing the words “acting reasonably” in the Flat Leases as requiring Abacus to reach a decision which is objectively reasonable or fair (this is paragraph 2 of the Grounds of Appeal). The other paragraphs elaborate a number of arguments in support of this contention; it is not necessary to detail them here and I will deal with them so far as necessary below.

The Leaseholders have served a Respondent’s notice. This challenges the decision of the Judge that if Abacus’s decision was not in accordance with the Flat Leases the tribunals had no power to remake the decision, and contends that a tribunal which reviews the exercise of a landlord’s discretion can substitute its own view if the landlord’s exercise of discretion is flawed. If therefore the appeal fails, the Leaseholders invite the Court to remit the matter back either to the UT or the FTT.