215-217 Coldharbour Lane, London, SW9 8RU LON/00AY/LCP/2021/0013
DECISION
[13]The contents of a RTM claim notice are prescribed. In section 82 the RTM company can seek information which it reasonably requires for providing the information in the claim notice. Section 84 of the Act deals with the provision of the counter notice. There is no provision in the Act which specifically allows the landlord to seek information over and above that provided in the claim notice and necessarily therefore the Applicants are not entitled to seek the costs of seeking such information. Accordingly in respect of this aspect of the Applicants’ costs some amendment is required. The tribunal will allow the costs detailed in the schedule of work on documents which amounts to £632.50 but will not allow the additional costs of letters sent seeking further information. These letters are charged at £165. The Tribunal will allow letters sent to the solicitors’ client charged at £330. The total sum therefore allowed for work by solicitors prior to tribunal application is£962.50plus vat.[14]The Tribunal had considerable difficulty working out what work the managing agents had actually done in relation to the right to manage application. No itemized costs were provided. The application was sent to the Freehold Company which is experienced in this field and we can see no reason why there should be much management work to do at this stage in the process, although clearly this may arise later. It may be that the landlord was contractually bound to pay this sum to the managing agent but this does not necessarily mean the RTM company should bear it. Accordingly, the tribunal disallows any claim for the managing agent fees both in relation to the claim process and the tribunal work.[15]The Tribunal does not accept that the landlord should not have incurred the costs of making an application to the Tribunal. The landlord had specified in its counter notice that the claim notice was in error because it specified a date for the acquisition of the right to manage the premises which was not at least three months after the date given. Accordingly, the error ought to have been apparent to the Respondents and it was not incumbent on the landlord to give any further information. After the landlord had issued its application to the tribunal denying the right to manage the respondents withdrew the claim. They are liable for the costs incurred by the Applicants in applying to the tribunal. The solicitors’ costs of this process are in our view reasonable and these amount to £825 plus VAT. In summary the total cost allowed are £1787.50 plus VAT. Judge Shepherd 27th June 2022 ANNEX - RIGHTS OF APPEAL Appealing against the tribunal’s decisions[1]A written application for permission must be made to the First-tier Tribunal at the Regional tribunal office which has been dealing with the case.[2]The application for permission to appeal must arrive at the Regional tribunal office within 28 days after the date this decision is sent to the parties.[3]If the application is not made within the 28-day time limit, such application must include a request for an extension of time and the reason for not complying with the 28-day time limit; the Tribunal will then look at such reason(s) and decide whether to allow the application for permission to appeal to proceed despite not being within the time limit.[4]The application for permission to appeal must state the grounds of appeal, and state the result the party making the application is seeking. All applications for permission to appeal will be considered on the papers[5]Any application to stay the effect of the decision must be made at the same time as the application for permission to appeal.