A leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT) was a statutory

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

which determined various types of

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

and

tenant Tenant may refer to: Real estate *Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate *Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law *Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate *Tenant farmer *Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...

dispute involving residential property in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

. An LVT consisted of a

panel Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts * Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image *Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...

of three; one with a background in property law (generally a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

); one with a background in property valuation generally a qualified

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

; and a

layman In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

, although some decisions of an LVT were decided by a single member. LVTs were

non-departmental public bodies In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of na ...

. The leasehold valuation tribunals were abolished under The Transfer of Tribunal Functions Order 2013 and their functions were transferred to the Property Chamber of the newly created

First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is part of the courts and tribunals service of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since t ...

with effect from 1 July 2013.

Jurisdiction

Leasehold valuation tribunals had a number of jurisdictions including: * Determining the price to be paid by tenants compulsorily acquiring either the

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

of houses or lease extensions of flats or collectively exercising the right to purchase the freehold of a collection of flats * Determination of whether a

service charge A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

is payable * Granting dispensations to landlords from compliance with statutory consultation with respect to

s * On a tenant's application, preventing the landlord from treating costs of proceedings as relevant costs (i.e. from adding them to the tenant's

bill) * The appointment of managers and receivers for flats improperly managed * Determining whether a

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

er is in breach of a term of their lease other than one to pay rent or a service or administration charge for the purposes of permitting the landlord to take steps to forfeit the lease * Variation of long leases of flatsPart IV Landlord and Tenant Act 1987
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History

Initially created by the

Housing Act 1980 The Housing Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave five million council house tenants in England and Wales the Right to Buy their house from their local authority. The Act came into force on 3 Oc ...

which transferred jurisdiction from the Lands Tribunal (a superior tribunal of

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

), functions were expanded by the

Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

and the

Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (c.15) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced commonhold, a new way of owning land similar to the Australian strata title or the American condominium, into English and Welsh ...

Lease extension

One of the earliest functions of the LVT was to determine disputes concerning the extension of leases. One of the drawbacks of owning a flat on a long lease is that it reduces in value over time. The less time is left on the lease, the less valuable the property becomes. Because of this, the law (the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993) gives the leaseholder the right to extend their lease once they have owned it for two years. Historically, when a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

ran out the property held thereunder would revert to the possession of the landlord/freeholder. In this case, the job of the leasehold valuation tribunal was to hear evidence from both sides as to what the long leasehold value of such a property would be and to determine what proportions of the value of the said property should rightfully be ascribed to leaseholder and the freeholder under the legislation. Generally, such evidence was given by an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

for each side who will argue that a particular value is more applicable based on an analysis of recent sales of comparable properties around the date that the Leasehold Notice was served. In many parts of the UK there are substantial freeholders who historically have owned and continue to own large land holdings, and this ownership has been and continues to be passed under leased ownership to sub-landlords and leaseholders; this system was particularly suitable when areas of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

were initially built on greenfield land, and later in the period immediately after the Second World War, when considerable renovation and rebuilding was urgently required, the estates were able to effectively subcontract redevelopment to sub-landlords, known as head-lessors. The most notable

estates are those of the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

, the

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

Earl Cadogan Earl Cadogan is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain for the Cadogan family. The second creation, in 1800, was for Charles Cadogan, 3rd Baron Cadogan. History Of Welsh origin, the family name was spelt ''Cadwg ...

, and

Lord Howard de Walden Baron Howard de Walden is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ of summons in 1597 by Queen Elizabeth I for Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, a younger son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, the Honourab ...

; with the changes in legislation these freeholders are now obliged to sell lease extensions under the various

Acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament ...

which have been passed at prices agreed by negotiation or determined by a leasehold valuation tribunal. Appeals against decisions of a leasehold valuation tribunal are made to the Lands Tribunal.

Composition

Tribunals technically comprised members drawn from one of the five

rent assessment panel Rent control in Scotland is based upon the statutory codes relating to private sector residential tenancies. Although not strictly within the private sector, tenancies granted by housing associations, etc., are dealt with as far as is appropria ...

s of England, constituted under Schedule 10 of the Rent Act 1977. Such members also sat on

rent assessment committee A rent assessment committee is a tribunal in England and Wales set up under the Rent Acts whose main task is to assess fair and market rents of properties referred to it. There is a statutory right of appeal to the High Court of England and Wales ...

s which determined Fair Rents under s. 70 of the

Rent Act 1977 The Rent Act 1977 (c. 42) was an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom. The Act introduced the protected tenancy in England and Wales. The organization setting the rent, the Valuation Office Agency, was known as the "Rent Office". See ...

, rent tribunals under the same Act which determined rents payable under Restricted Contracts (room lettings) and

residential property tribunal A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family reside ...

s which were created by the

Housing Act 2004 The Housing Act 2004 (c 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced Home Information Packs, which have since been abandoned. It also significantly extends the regulation of houses in multiple occupation by requiring so ...

. A legally qualified chairman sitting with a

Chartered Surveyor Chartered Surveyor is the description (protected by law in many countries) of Professional ''Members'' and ''Fellows'' of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) entitled to use the designation (and a number of variations such as "Charte ...

and a lay member usually constituted the tribunal. However, a small number of chairmen were chartered surveyors and a small number of members of other professions were appointed to sit. Chairmen were appointed by the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

and other members by the Secretary of State.

References

External links

a free list of LVT decisions on the leasehold advisory service websitean online calculator for the cost of buying a share of freeholdAssociation of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP)
- professional association for organisations in the leasehold sector English property law Defunct non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities United Kingdom tribunals Housing law