Whitehall Waterfront, 2 Riverside Way, Leeds, LS1 4EH MAN/00DA/LDC/2021/0069
DECISION
[1]The application to dispense with the consultation requirements imposed by Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (“the Act”) regarding the works specified by the Applicant to ensure the safety of the residents at Whitehall Waterfront, 2 Riverside Way, Leeds is granted.REASONS
[2]This is an application made by Adriatic Land (GR3) Limited (“the Applicant”) for the dispensation of the consultation requirements imposed by Section 20 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 (“the Act”) regarding works required to remedy the existing external wall system at Whitehall Waterfront. 2 Riverside Way, Leeds (“the Property”).[3]The Applicant has stated the external wall system comprises combustible materials and poses a fire risk.[4]The Respondents to the application are the various long leaseholders of the residential apartments forming part of the Property (“the Respondents”).[5]The application is dated 20th October 2021 and in respect of which directions were issued on 21st February 2022 providing for the filing of any objection by the Respondents and for the application to be determined without a hearing.[6]There have been no objections received in respect of the application. The Law[7]Section 20 of the Act provides:(1) Where this section applies to any qualifying works or qualifying long term agreement, the relevant contributions of tenants are limited in accordance with subsection (6) or (7) (or both) unless the consultation requirements have been either- (a) complied with in relation to the works or agreement, or (b) dispensed with in relation to the works or agreement by (or on appeal from) a tribunal(2) In this section “relevant contribution”, in relation to a tenant and any works or agreement, is the amount which he may be required under the terms of his lease to contribute (by the payment of service charges) to relevant costs incurred on carrying out the works or under the agreement(3) This section applies to qualifying works if relevant costs incurred on carrying out the works exceed an appropriate amount.[8]In the event the requirements of section 20 have not been complied with, or there is insufficient time for the consultation process to be implemented then an application can be made to the First-tier Tribunal pursuant to section 20ZA of the Act.[9]Section 20ZA of the Act provides: (1) Where an application is made to a tribunal for a determination to dispense with all or any consultation requirements in relation to any qualifying works, or qualifying long term agreement, the tribunal may make the determination if satisfied that it is reasonable to dispense with the requirements Submissions[1]The Applicant is the landlord of the Property, a L-shaped building ranging from 10 to 16 storeys. The ground floor contains commercial units whilst the upper floors are principally residential units.[2]The Applicant has been made aware that remedial works are required to the Property regarding the construction of the external wall system that is constructed of combustible materials and poses a fire risk.[3]The Applicant has appointed specialist firms to report further upon the work required to remedy the defects and they have recommended works to include the removal of the balconies and for them to be refurbished before re-installation, remove the existing cladding and then apply render, remove terracotta tiles and reinstate after remedial work and remove and replace both silver and dark grey aluminium panels. The cost of the work will require compliance with the consultation requirements of section 20 of the Act.[4]The Applicant has registered the Property with the Government Building Safety Fund due to the nature of the remedial work and has claimed for the full cost of the work, but this may not be granted. The requirements of the fund are such that once funding is granted, it is expected any work will be carried out quickly.[5]The Applicant has chosen to proceed with the work under a Design and Build procurement route which is where the appointed contractor both designs and constructs the work.[6]The Applicant has instructed Savills to carry out the remedial work via a Design and Build contract and they have estimated the cost to be £7,412,950.82, excluding VAT.[7]The Applicant seeks dispensation from all consultation requirements since it is said it would not be practicable to comply with them given the method of funding, the procurement method for dealing with the works and the urgency of it.[8]The Applicant has commenced the consultation process by sending a Stage 1 Notice of Intention, dated 15th October 2020, to the Respondents and have also provided regular updates.[9]The Applicant submits the Respondents will not suffer any financial prejudice by the granting of dispensation. If dispensation is not granted and consultation is req then any government funding could be lost resulting in higher costs for the Respondents. Determination[10]The Tribunal is being asked to exercise its discretion under section 20ZA of the Act. Section 20ZA (1) provides the Tribunal may do so where “if satisfied that it is reasonable to dispense with the requirements”.[11]The Tribunal, having considered the submissions made by the Applicant, is satisfied the works are necessary and are urgent. It accepts that due to the steps taken to carry out the work, it is not practicable to carry out the consultation requirements contained within section 20 of the Act and dispensation is therefore granted under section 20ZA.[12]The granting of dispensation does not affect the Respondents’ rights to the challenge the reasonableness or the payability of the service charges under a separate application pursuant to section 27A of the Act. J.E. Oliver Tribunal Judge 4th July 2022 Annex A Ms M Teale Mr A Patel & B Patel Dr G Rodosthenous Mr & Mrs Park Mr & Mrs Shukla Mr D Penman Dr O Kubassova Mr C Connolly KCC Aquisitions Ltd Mr S Godfrey Mr Bloore & Miss Duncan Ms Knox & Mr Knox Mr R Welford Mr Rattanpal & Ms Rattanpal Mr D Ponnuraj Ms A Goddard Ms M Manteiga Mr C Noke Miss K Hunter Mr S Pickard G W D Property Ltd C&J Property Ltd Mrs V Sharma Bruton London Ltd Mr Thomas & Ms Thomas Mr Barnett & Ms Barnett Dr M Vidana D H Newman & G M Newman Mr Fripp & Ms Norddahl-Payne Ms L Metcalfe Mr N Fox & Mr P Fox Yellow Wood Properties Ltd Mr S Mellor Fisher Europa Ltd Mr Myers & Ms Myers Mr S Stanley Dr S Iyer Mr L Toth Mr B Hudson Mr Uren & Ms Uren Ms C Lacy Ms R Hohenstein Mr C Shield Mr N Wilding C Brown & CS Rothwell Ms A Taylor Mr H Brayshaw Mr P Elkington & Ms T Elkington Mr Holmes & Ms Holmes Mr R Howells Market House International Group Ltd Mrs A Walker Ms M Campbell Mr S Neda Mr A Zelikson & Mrs D Zelikson Mr I Thomason Mr D Johnstone Mr Pandey & Ms Pandey Ms S Hudson Mrs S Faulding Ms G Lambert Mr A Al-Ani R Malik, D Malik & R Malik Mr Z Khawaja Dr L Willis Mr P Ward I C Wilson & A J Wilson Mr S McArthur Mr R Cameron Parker Properties Ltd Mr P Holmes R A Adey & E F Adey Ms S Calvert Mr M Acar Mr Alqattan & Ms Alharaz Mr Rutherford & Ms Georgiou Warren Assured Money (UK) Ltd Mr White & Ms Lancaster Mr P Akhtar Mr Brady & Ms L Brady Mr T Arnott Ms R Dicks Ms C Wilson Mr M Ullah Mr R Iavagnilio Mr Grey & Ms Yau Ms S Goyal Mr P Hulme Ms Hadley & Mr Jago Mr Cohen & Ms Mewse Mr G Boland Mr A Caicedo Dr B Alsaad Mr K Gosal Mr T Featherstone Mr M Smith Mr C Breslin Mr G Lam Dr T Yeoh Mr S Rinaldi Ms Morley & Mr Morley Mr C Nelson Ms Marshall & Mr Marshall Mr & Mrs Farrell Mr Chin & Mr Tsang Mr M El Diri Ms P Pudney Ms W Frith Mr D Smith Mr T Cheng Mr S Morrison Mr Hall & Ms Hall Mr R Stansfield Mr Yeung & Ms Ko Mr J Davy Mr A Vicat Mr Luckraz & Ms Luckraz Ms Nguyenova & Mr Kaye Ms Tibbatts & Mr Tibbatts Mr R Fozard Mr D Latto Ms A Gambi Mr T Mackenzie Mr J Cameron Mr A Hussain Ms Z Ali Ms C Gulliver Mr M Perry Mr J Vadgama Ms L Harkins Ms KJ Pugh & Ms LM Pugh Ms S Williams Mr J Whiting Miss J Freeman Mr A Green Ms J Duara Mr N Patel & Ms M Patel Leeds Apartments Ltd Ms J Fisher Mr S Firth N Mistry, H Mistry & V Mistry Mr R Russo Mr Healy & Ms Schneider Mr D Tredwen Ms A Unwin Dr P Hamal Mr Berardi & Ms Bonometti Mr T Benthall Parker Lettings Ltd Ms Webber & Mr Webber Mr D Williams Dr H Dhaliwal Mr A Peake Mr P Bowles Mr R Bozeat Ms S Hardy Dr S Jain Mr T Bullock & Ms G Bullock Mr A Eadsforth Ms E Whitehead Mr A Smith Mr R Tinker Mr D Foster Ms C Young Mr H Rahimi D M Cole & M J Gorman Mrs N McMaster Dr R Thomas Mrs I Sharma Mr Seyed-Jalali & Ms Seyed-Jalali Mrs P Penman Mr R Finnegan & Ms J Finnegan Miss S Bashir Mr P Jackson Mr R Finnegan & Mr Cole Mr Sardahee & Ms Moyassari DA, LS, DM & AS Jackson Mr Cooper & Ms Cooper Mr Kelly & Ms Kelly Rags Properties Ltd Kinetica Adriatic Land 1 (GR3) Ltd Corporate Workspace Ltd Edwards Architectural Services Ltd BWB Consulting Mr Mills & Mr Wetherill-Trustees of Lauren Mills Life Interest Trust H L Peace, P G Bates, & Buckle Barton Pensioneer Trustees Ltd