First Floor Flat, 147 Portland Road, South Norwood, London SE25 4UX LON/00AH/LSC/2019/0360
DECISION
(1) By consent, the cases are stayed until 14th December 2021.(2) The parties may apply to end the stay or to withdraw but, if they do not do so by 14th December 2021, the cases will be struck out.REASONS
[1]The Applicant/Claimant is the freeholder and the Respondent/ Defendant is the lessee of one of the two flats at 147 Portland Road. The Applicant issued two claims in the county court:• D56YJ459 April 2017 £6,865.33• E55YJ693 April 2018 £5,990.69[2]On the second claim, default judgment was obtained but then set aside and the claim transferred to the Tribunal by District Judge Obodai on 11th January 2019.[3]By order made on 22nd August 2019 Deputy District Judge Falder similarly set aside a default judgment on the first claim, joined the two claims together and sent them both to the Tribunal.[4]The Tribunal issued directions for both cases on 8th October 2019. Amongst other matters, the Tribunal directed that all issues would be decided together so that the Tribunal judge would sit as a county court judge to decide matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court.[5]The hearing was initially listed for 17th January 2020 but was adjourned to 13th May 2020 due to problems with compliance with the directions. It then had to be further adjourned due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. A hearing was eventually held on 16th November 2020 but that too had to be adjourned, to 14th December 2020. The hearing was attended by:• Ms G Purnell, counsel for the Applicant;• Mr S Frimpong, counsel for the Respondent; and• Mr Scott.[6]The parties have been able to reach a measure of agreement, albeit at the last minute, and, at the hearing, jointly sought a stay of 12 months to allow the agreement to be finalised and implemented. Both the Tribunal and the court consented to this, save that the parties must inform the Tribunal within the period of 12 months what is happening with the cases and, if they do not, they will be struck out. Name: Judge Nicol Date: 14th December 2020 General Form of Judgment or Order In the County Court at Manchester sitting at 10 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7LR Claim Number D56YJ459 E55YJ693 Date 14th December 2020 Southern Land Securities Ltd Claimant Ref Scott Holdings International Ltd Defendant Ref BEFORE Tribunal Judge Nicol, sitting as a Judge of the County Court (District Judge), UPON the claim E55YJ693 having been transferred to the First-tier Tribunal for administration on 11th January 2019 by order of District Judge Obodai and the claim D56YJ459 on 22nd August 2019 by order of Deputy District Judge Falder, sitting at the County Court at Manchester AND UPON hearing counsel for the Claimant and counsel for the Defendant IT IS ORDERED:[1]By consent, the cases are stayed until 14th December 2021;[2]The parties may apply to end the stay but, if they do not do so by 14th December 2021, the cases will be struck out;[3]The reasons for the making of this Order are set out in the combined decision of the court and the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) dated 14th December 2020 under case reference LON/00AH/LSC/2019/0360 & 0361. Dated: 14th December 2020