Introduction
1.By a decision issued on 10 December 2021 the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (the FTT) decided that under section 24 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 the premium payable by the respondent, Barham House Freehold Ltd, to the appellant, Properties AY&U Ltd for the freehold of Barham House, 39-40 Molyneux Street, London W1H 5JA should be £30,000. It arrived at that conclusion after hearing the evidence of expert witnesses for both parties. For the respondent Mr James Hayes MRICS had given evidence that the open market value of the freehold interest was £20,000, which should be increased to £30,000 if the FTT was satisfied that there was some development value associated with the possibility of adding additional flats to the building. For the appellant, Mr Jatinder Dhanoa MRICS gave evidence that the premium payable on enfranchisement should be in excess of £1.2 million based on the development potential of creating a three-bedroom flat in the basement of the building and adding a two-storey rooftop development within a year of the valuation date.2.With the permission of this Tribunal the appellant now appeals against the FTT’s decision. It no longer suggests that the price payable under section 24 of the 1993 Act should be in excess of £1.2 million but argues instead that having dismissed the evidence of Mr Dhanoa the FTT was wrong not then to value the freehold at £91,000, which was the price paid by the appellant for the property at auction only four months before the valuation date.