The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, the legislation which introduced the Right to Manage (RTM) and sets out the procedure to be followed, is notorious for its particular and precise wording.
In all Right to Manage cases, there are three statutory notices; two that the claimant must serve (the Notice Inviting Participation, and the Claim Notice), and one that the landlord may serve (the Counter Notice).
All three of these notices include explanatory notes, and the content of these notes is also prescribed by law.
The case of Triplerose Ltd vs Mill House, which was heard in the Upper Tribunal in February 2016, centred on the RTM company’s failure to include the required explanatory notes with the notices.
Triplerose had sent a correct Notice Inviting Participation to the Mill House leaseholders in 2013, but the explanatory notes were not included. This omission by the RTM company proved fatal to the claim and the Right to Manage was not acquired.
The tribunal commented that although it would tend to be “sympathetic” where technical points were used to challenge an RTM claim, it could not take this approach where the legislation had not been followed.
The fact that the notes were prescribed by statute and provided potential members with important information meant that the need to provide them to leaseholders could not be ignored.
This was the second high-profile Right to Manage case involving Triplerose. The first was the 90 Broomfield Road case, which created the ‘One Block Rule’ for RTM companies. Since this Court of Appeal decision in March 2015, the Right to Manage has only applied to a single block, or self-contained part of a block, and not to a number of blocks – whether these blocks are in different locations or located on the same estate.
The Triplerose vs Mill House case highlights the importance of accuracy in Right to Manage claims and the benefit of an expert pair of eyes.
To assist leaseholders considering making a Right to Manage claim, Brady Solicitors has launched a free telephone and email advice line to help ensure that claims have the best possible chance of success.
Harpreet Lehal, is a solicitor at Brady Solicitors
