Case No. UKUT-243-(LC)-UTLC-Case-Number:-LC-2022-147

1.Either the respondent Muazzez Edhem transferred 27 Netherford Road, Clapham to her son, Mehmet Edhem, on 27 May 2016 or she did not. The First-tier Tribunal (“the FTT”) found that she did not, and that the transfer was forged by her son Mehmet Edhem, so that his registration as proprietor of the property was a mistake and the register was to be rectified. Mehmet Edhem appeals the FTT’s decision2.The appeal is a review of the decision of the FTT. The appellant was represented by solicitors and counsel in the FTT but has not been represented on the appeal; the respondent has been represented by Mr Stephen Connolly of counsel.3.Permission to appeal was granted by this Tribunal on two grounds. The first was that the judge should have allowed the crucial witness, Ms Mitchell, who was said to have witnessed the transfer of the property to give evidence by video link when it became clear that she was not going to attend the hearing in response to a witness summons. The second was that the judge failed to take account of significant parts of the evidence when making his decision about the credibility of the respondent. I will explain those grounds in more detail below.4.I begin with an account of those few of the facts that are not disputed, before summarising the FTT’s decision and then exploring the grounds of appeal. As did the judge in the FTT I refer to the parties by their first names, for the avoidance of confusion since Muazzez is the respondent to this appeal but was the applicant in the FTT.