The civil courts are currently far too slow. In an attempt to free up precious court time a pilot is running in the County Court at Central London for 1 year from December 2017 for unopposed business lease renewal claims. Claims under Part 2 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 will be referred to Tribunal Judges of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)
The Tribunal Judges will have full cost-shifting powers and will sit as County Court Judges with a Tribunal Valuer, appointed as a Court Assessor under section 63 of the County Courts Act 1984.
Tribunal Judges already determine valuations for residential new lease applications under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
Standard directions under the pilot will provide for:
- Tenant’s amendments to the draft lease limited to 1 round.
- A requirement to justify formal disclosure requests.
- No allowance for witness statements of fact.
- A greater emphasis on valuation experts.
- A final hearing within 20 weeks.
Cases are to be listed to be heard over a 2 day period, with priority to parties who have complied with directions.
It is anticipated that the Tribunal Judge will have a greater knowledge of property matters, in particular business tenancies, and will be assisted by a Valuer/Assessor at the hearing. Written submissions only are anticipated for valuation only disputes.
Postponement will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
Parties will continue to have the opportunity to refer matters to Professional Arbitration on Court Terms or another dispute resolution service.
It is hoped that cases will proceed to a final determination smoothly and quickly. By taking out the high volume of unopposed commercial lease renewal claims currently dealt with by the county courts, the aim is to free up capacity in the county courts to handle more complex claims and ensure quicker trial dates are provided.
It is envisaged that eventually all unopposed commercial lease renewals will be transferred to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)
If you have any questions in relation to commercial lease renewal proceedings please contact Inderjit Gill in our Dispute Resolution Team at igill@jacksons-law.com
Please share the article
