Counting the costs in the LVT

Those who practice regularly in the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) should be familiar with what follows, but those who do not spend much time there would be well advised to consider it carefully if they wish to avoid some of the costs-related traps that await them.

Origins of the LVT

The LVT is a non-departmental public body established to determine various types of residential leasehold property disputes. The LVT grew out of the Rent Assessment Committees (created to determine rents under the Rent Acts) and gained ever greater jurisdiction with the passing of the Housing Act 1980 (leasehold enfranchisement), the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 (reasonableness of service charges), the Landlord & Tenant Act 1987 (appointment of a manager), the Leasehold Reform, Housing & Urban Development Act 1993 (collective enfranchisement) and the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (CLRA 2002) (payability of service charges, administration charges and the no fault right to manage).