Countdown to the arrival of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

On 01 July 2013, the rent assessment committee (aka the LVT/residential property tribunal) will officially cease to exist in England, although we will all no doubt continue to call it the LVT: “First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)” does not trip off the tongue in the same way.

The same date will see the abolition of the Agricultural Lands Tribunals for areas in England and the complete abolition of the Adjudicator to Her Majesty’s Land Registry.

Today is 04 June 2013: there are 26 clear days left until we must all engage with the new body, its new procedure rules and three new sections in the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.

This then is the ideal moment to have a blog countdown. Bonjour “A Rule A Day”.

I do not expect that this countdown will generate the same levels of excitement and anticipation as a child with an advent calendar – and I doubt that Siobhan McGrath, the incoming President of the FTT(PC), has ever considered herself a candidate for the role of Father Christmas – but I hope that a daily post of a few words about each rule (or several linked rules) between now and 01 July will be useful reference material and will highlight some of the major differences and similarities between the old and the new.

I should note here – and before I start so that there can be no suggestion that I have lost enthusiasm half-way through – that my posts will relate to the rules as they will govern residential service charge disputes. I will not therefore be posting any of the special, non-service-charge-related procedures which appear in Part 5 of the new rules.