[2023] UKUT 292 (LC)

This appeal is against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (the FTT) to reduce a financial penalty imposed under section 249A, Housing Act 2004, from £10,000 to £5,000. The penalty was imposed by the respondent, Teignbridge District Council (the Council), on the appellant, Park Green Investments Ltd, on account of its failure to comply with an improvement notice requiring remedial action to be taken in respect of hazards existing at a building at 27 Fore Street in Teignmouth.

An unusual feature of the appeal is that, although all three of the flats in the building are let on long leases, the remedial action required by the Council’s improvement notice included action to repair a fire alarm in one of those flats, Flat 2, and action to ensure that the common parts of the building were keep free of obstruction placed there by the leaseholders. Rather than choosing to serve the improvement notice on the leaseholders concerned, the Council elected to serve it only on the appellant, as freeholder.

The main issues in the appeal concern the way the FTT took account of the lack of cooperation experienced by the appellant when it tried to comply with the improvement notice. Its case is that it did everything that it reasonably could in the circumstances to comply but was repeatedly refused access to repair the fire alarm, and when it arranged for items to be removed from the common parts these were quickly returned by the same recalcitrant leaseholder.

Mr Stephen Thompson, who is a director of the appellant, represented it at the hearing of the appeal, as he had before the FTT. The Council was represented by Mr Jonathan Ward. I am grateful to them both for their assistance. The appeal was originally brought in Mr Thompson’s own name but at the start of the hearing I directed that the company be substituted as appellant since the financial penalty was imposed on it rather than on Mr Thompson personally.