Case No. UKUT-241-(LC)

1.In this appeal, the London Borough of Waltham Forest (“the Council”) appeals against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (“the FTT”) dated 16 August 2021 (“the Decision”). The Decision relates to applications made by, among others, FHCO Limited (“FHCO”) to the Council for licences under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) in relation to 158 Blackhorse Road, London E17 6RH and the revocation by the Council of such a licence previously granted to Farina Hussain in relation to 44 Westbury Road, London E17 6RH. 2.FHCO and Ms Hussain were the appellants in the FTT against the refusal of its applications for a Part 3 licence and the revocation of her Part 3 licence respectively. The FTT allowed the appeals of FHCO and Ms Hussain against the determination by the Council, by which it had refused to grant FHCO licences and revoked Ms Hussain’s licence.3.Before the FTT, there had also been appeals by Mrs Nasim Hussain (the mother of Ms Hussain) and Luxcool Limited against the Council’s refusal to grant them licences relating to other properties, but those appeals were unsuccessful and, save on one matter raised by way of cross-appeal, they have not sought to pursue their appeals further.4.The issues before the FTT in FHCO’s and Ms Hussain’s appeals were whether FHCO and Ms Hussain were fit and proper persons to be licence holders, pursuant to s.88(3)(a)(i) of the 2004 Act. 5.The Act confers the original decision-making power on such questions on the local housing authority, in this case the Council, and it provides for the applicant, licence holder or any relevant person to be able to appeal its decision. Any such appeal is specified by the Act to be by way of a re-hearing, and the FTT is given power to confirm, reverse or vary the decision of the local housing authority.6.The Council concluded that FHCO (of which Ms Hussain was the sole director at the time) and Ms Hussain herself were not fit and proper persons to be licence holders. This was because of their association with persons who had committed offences involving fraud or dishonesty, namely Ms Hussain’s mother and father. Mrs Nasim Hussain and her husband, Tariq Hussain, had been convicted of offences of dishonesty relating to the licensing under Part 2 or Part 3 of the Act of many properties owned or controlled by them in the same part of Greater London. 7.The Council concluded on the evidence it had that Ms Hussain had been closely involved in the family property rental business and was tainted by the unlawful conduct of her parents, such that she was not a fit and proper person, and neither therefore was the limited company that she owned and controlled.8.The FTT heard evidence about these matters over a hearing lasting 2 days. It reached a different conclusion so far as FHCO and Ms Hussain were concerned, namely that they were fit and proper persons to be licence holders, and therefore it allowed their appeals. As a result, the FTT reversed the Council’s decision and directed that FHCO should be granted licences for a 3 year period running from 30 August 2021 and that Ms Hussain’s licence should be “reinstated”.9.With the permission of the FTT, the Council appeals against those parts of the Decision on 3 grounds, and further seeks permission from this Tribunal to pursue a fourth ground of appeal.10.On 21 January 2022, the Deputy President of this Tribunal granted all four Respondents permission to cross-appeal on a discrete question of law arising from the facts, namely whether under the Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (“the Services Regulations”) licences were deemed to have been granted to Mrs Nasim Hussain, FHCO and Luxcool Limited because the Council did not make a decision on their applications for licences within a reasonable time. The Respondents contend that if their applications for licences were deemed to have been granted they cannot later have been refused by the Council, and so the purported refusals were of no legal effect.