[2023] UKUT 174 (LC)

This is an appeal by Holding and Management (Solitaire) Limited. It is the freeholder of Sovereign View, a Thames riverside gated estate. The appeal is from a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (“the FTT”), which granted the appellant a dispensation from the consultation requirements in section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 in respect of the installation of a fire alarm system, subject to conditions. The appellant says the FTT was wrong to impose those conditions. The respondents all hold long leases at Sovereign View; their names are listed at the end of this decision.

The appellant was represented in the appeal by Mr Michael Mullin of counsel, and the respondents by two of their number, Ms Veena Sharma and Mr Chris Simmons. I am grateful to them all for their assistance.

Because this appeal is about fire safety works I asked the parties at the hearing if the provisions of the Building Safety Act 2002 apply to Sovereign View, and the answer was less precise than one might have wished. The position appears to be that most, if not all, of the development is not a “relevant building” under the Building Safety Act 2022, but that it is a possible that one block may be of the requisite height to be a “relevant building”. It is important that the parties find out if that is the case. Nothing in this decision takes away any protection that may be conferred by the 2022 Act on any of the leaseholders.