The Residential Property Tribunal (Fees) (England) Regulations 2006

Statutory Instruments

2006 No. 830

HOUSING, ENGLAND

The Residential Property Tribunal (Fees) (England) Regulations 2006

Made

17th March 2006

Laid before Parliament

23rd March 2006

Coming into force

13th April 2006

The First Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraphs 1 and 11 of Schedule 13 to the Housing Act 2004(1), makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Residential Property Tribunal (Fees)(England) Regulations 2006 and shall come into force on 13^th April 2006.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Housing Act 2004;

“the 1985 Act” means the Housing Act 1985(2);

“tribunal” means a residential property tribunal.

Application

2.  These Regulations apply in relation to appeals and applications of any of the descriptions specified in regulation 3 made after 6^th April 2006 in respect of premises in England(3).

Fees

3.—(1) Subject to regulation 5(2), a fee of £150 shall be payable for—

(a) an appeal to a tribunal under—

(i) section 22(9) of the Act (refusal to approve use of premises subject to a prohibition order);

(ii) paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to the Act (improvement notice);

(iii) paragraph 13 of Schedule 1 to the Act (refusal to revoke or vary an improvement notice);

(iv) paragraph 7 of Schedule 2 to the Act (prohibition order);

(v) paragraph 9 of Schedule 2 to the Act (refusal to revoke or vary a prohibition order);

(vi) paragraph 11 of Schedule 3 to the Act (improvement notice: demand for recovery of expenses);

(vii) paragraph 32 of Schedule 5 to the Act (HMO licensing: decision or refusal to vary or revoke licence);

(viii) paragraph 32 of Schedule 6 to the Act (management order: third party compensation);

(ix) paragraph 26(1)(a) and (b) of Schedule 7 to the Act (final EDMO);

(x) paragraph 30 of Schedule 7 to the Act (decision or refusal to revoke or vary an interim or final EDMO);

(xi) paragraph 34(2) of Schedule 7 to the Act (EDMO: third party compensation);

(xii) section 269(1) of the 1985 Act (demolition orders);

(b) an application to a tribunal under—

(i) section 126(4) of the Act (effect of management orders: furniture);

(ii) under section 138 of the Act (compensation payable to third parties);

(iii) section 318(1) of the 1985 Act (power of the tribunal to authorise execution of works on unfit premises or for improvement).

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) and regulation 5(2), a fee of £150 shall be payable for an appeal to a tribunal under one or more of the following provisions—

(a) section 62(7) of the Act (HMO licensing: refusal to grant temporary exemption notice);

(b) section 86(7) of the Act (selective licensing: refusal to grant temporary exemption notice);

(c) paragraph 31 of Schedule 5 to the Act (grant or refusal of licence);

(d) paragraph 24 of Schedule 6 to the Act (interim and final management order);

(e) paragraph 28 of Schedule 6 to the Act (decision or refusal to vary or revoke a management order).

(3) No fee is payable where an appeal under sub-paragraph (1)(b) of paragraph 24 of Schedule 6 to the Act is made on the grounds set out in sub-paragraph (4) of that paragraph.

Payment of fees

4.  Any fee payable under regulation 3 must accompany the appeal or application and must be paid by a cheque made payable to, or postal order drawn in favour of, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Liability to pay fee and waiver of fees

5.—(1) The appellant or applicant shall be liable to pay any fee payable under regulation 3.

(2) No fee is payable under regulation 3 where, on the date that the appeal or application is made, the appellant or applicant (as the case may be) or his partner is in receipt of—

(a) either of the following benefits under Part 7 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(4)—

(i) income support; or

(ii) housing benefit;

(b) an income-based jobseeker’s allowance within the meaning of section 1 of the Jobseekers Act 1995(5);

(c) a working tax credit under Part 1 of the Tax Credits Act 2002(6) to which paragraph (3) applies;

(d) a guarantee credit under the State Pensions Credit Act 2002(7).

(3) This paragraph applies where—

(a) either—

(i) there is a disability element or severe disability element (or both)(8) to the tax credit received by the person or his partner; or

(ii) the person or his partner is also in receipt of child tax credit (9); and

(b) the gross annual income taken into account for the calculation of the working tax credit is £14, 213 or less.

(4) In this regulation “partner”, in relation to a person, means—

(a) where the person is a member of a couple, the other member of that couple; or

(b) where the person is polygamously married to two or more members of his household, any such member.

(5) In paragraph (4), “couple” means—

(a) a man and woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household;

(b) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife;

(c) two people of the same sex who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; or

(d) two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners,

and for the purposes of sub-paragraph (d), two people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners if, but only if, they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead two people of the opposite sex.

Reimbursement of fees

6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), in relation to any appeal or application in respect of which a fee is payable under regulation 3, a tribunal may require any party to the appeal or application to reimburse any other party to the extent of the whole or part of any fee paid by him in respect of the appeal or application .

(2) A tribunal shall not require a party to make such reimbursement if, at the time the tribunal is considering whether or not to do so, the tribunal is satisfied that the party or his partner is in receipt of assistance of any description mentioned in regulation 5(2).

Signed by authority of the First Secretary of State

Kay Andrews

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

17th March 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision for the payment of fees in respect of appeals and applications to residential property tribunals. They apply in relation to appeals and applications of any of the descriptions specified in regulation 3 that are made after 6^th April 2006 in relation to premises in England.

Regulations 3 and 4 require a fee of £150 to be paid when an appeal or application is made to a tribunal relating to—

the refusal of a local housing authority to approve the use of premises where a prohibition order under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 (“the Act”) is in place in relation to those premises;

the refusal of a local housing authority to grant a temporary exemption notice in relation to a house in multiple occupation which is subject to compulsory licensing under Part 2 of the Act;

the refusal of a local housing authority to grant a temporary exemption notice in relation to premises which are subject to selective licensing under Part 3 of the Act;

a local housing authority’s making of, or refusal to revoke or vary, an improvement notice under Part 1 of the Act;

a local housing authority’s making of, or refusal to revoke or vary, a prohibition order under Part 1 of the Act;

the level of expenses demanded by a local housing authority in respect of works it has carried out where an improvement notice has not been complied with;

a local housing authority’s grant or refusal to grant a licence under Part 2 or 3 of the Act and their decision (or refusal) to revoke or vary such a licence;

a local housing authority’s grant of, or the terms of, an interim or final management order under Part 4 of the Act, and their decision (or refusal) to revoke or vary such an order;

a local housing authority’s grant of, or the terms of, a final empty dwelling management order under Part 4 of the Act, and their decision (or refusal) to revoke or vary such an order;

compensation payable to a third party where a management order is made under Part 4 of the Act;

the grant of a demolition order under Part 9 of the Housing Act 1985;

an application to carry out works to unfit premises under Part 9 of the Housing Act 1985.

A fee is not payable where the grounds for appeal against a management order includes failure to deal with payment to deal with specified matters, for example, payment of surplus rents.

Regulation 5 provides for the appellant or applicant to be liable for payment of the fee and for the fee to be waived where he or his partner is in receipt of specified benefits.

Regulation 6 sets out the circumstances in which the tribunal may order one party to an appeal or application to reimburse any fees incurred under regulation 3 by another party.

A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in connection with these Regulations. A copy may be obtained from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, HMO/Selective Licensing Branch, Zone 2/G9, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU (Tel: [phone]).

(1)

2004 c. 34.

(2)

1985 c. 68.

(3)

The powers conferred by paragraphs 1 and 11 of Schedule 13 to the Act are exercisable, as respects England, by the Secretary of State and, as respects Wales, by the National Assembly for Wales. See the definition of the appropriate national authority in section 261(1) of the Act.

(4)

1992 c. 4; amended by the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21), sections 60 and Schedule 6. There are other amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(5)

1995 c. 18; amended by the Welfare Reform and Pensioners Act 1999 (c. 30), sections 59 and 88 and Schedules 7 and 13.

(6)

2002 c. 21.

(7)

2002 c. 16.

(8)

See section 11(3), (4) and (6) of the Tax Credits Act 2002.

(9)

See section 8 of the Tax Credits Act 2002.