[2023] UKUT 147 (LC)

The appellant points to paragraph 38 of the FTT’s decision and says it is factually wrong. The base was cracked in 2018 but was then repaired. It had not been cracked since. Further work was required but there were no more cracks and Ms Esterhuyse did not say that the base had been cracked or otherwise damaged since the initial repairs had been done.

That is a mis-reading of the FTT’s reasoning. What troubled the FTT was that the repairs had not been done properly; there had been, as Ms Esterhuyse complained and as the local authority agreed, a “botched job” (done by the gardener, Ms Esterhuyse said). As at January 2022 the appellant had failed to carry out proper repairs to the cracked base - whether or not the actual cracks were still visible; the Compliance Notice stated that they had been covered by a sheet of reinforcing, and then concrete poured over, so it seems the cracks were still present under the new surface. Whether or not that is the case, at any rate the appellant had failed to repair the cracking properly, and that failure was causing Ms Esterhuyse distress and worry.

I find that there was no mistake of fact by the FTT and this ground fails.