Castlemoat Place, Corporation Street
- The building
- A purpose-built mixed tenure block described by the applicant as containing 52 apartments and five commercial units, held on a tripartite lease with a management company.
- What was applied for
- Dispensation under section 20ZA of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 for repairs to communal pipework serving the heating and hot water system.
- The figures
- 52 apartments and five commercial units. Application fee 100 pounds. The tribunal noted the cost would need to exceed 13,000 pounds even divided between the apartments alone. Two engineers, one working day.
What Happened
Leaking fittings on the second and third floors and a leaking joint in the plantroom needed two engineers for a day, with access to every flat to refill and vent the system. The work was urgent because further failure would leave residents, some of them key and hospital workers, without hot water. Consultation had already started, with a notice of intention served and the period running.
What the Tribunal Held
Granted. One leaseholder objected on five grounds: that the application was unnecessary since consultation was already running, that the fee and the agent's charges would fall on leaseholders, that the application would delay critical work, that it was dangerous to set a precedent of bypassing lessees, and that the notice of intention lets lessees nominate contractors. The tribunal rejected each. There was no specific assertion that the intended contractor would charge unreasonably or that a cheaper estimate would have been accepted, no lessee had nominated a contractor, and it is the completion of consultation, not the dispensation application, that causes delay. On precedent it held there is no identifiable prospect of a dangerous precedent being set, and that the criteria do not require imminent danger. Recovery of the fee through the service charge was no reason to refuse.
What it means for a block here. Objecting on grounds of cost, delay or precedent will fail. The only argument that bites is a credible, specific case that you would have secured a different or cheaper outcome had you been consulted.