A rent assessment committee is a

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 and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

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

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and thence to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

. On the formation of the Residential Property Tribunal Service as a result of 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 ...

the rent assessment committees became part of that body for administrative purposes, and is therefore now called the

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 ...

(Property Chamber - Residential Property).

Jurisdiction

The First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property) has the following jurisdictions: * cancellation of a registered rent (s. 81A

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 ...

) * determination of the terms of a statutory periodic

assured tenancy An assured tenancy is a legal category of residential tenancy to an individual (or individuals jointly) in English land law. Statute affords a tenant under an assured tenancy a degree of security of tenure. A tenant under an assured tenancy may n ...

(s. 6

Housing Act 1988 The Housing Act 1988 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It governs the law between landlords and tenants. The Act introduced the concepts of assured tenancy and assured shorthold tenancy. It also facilitated the transfer of council hou ...

) * determination of a market rent for an

(s. 22

) * questions concerning purchase notices * questions concerning acquisition orders

Membership

The First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property) normally consists of two or three persons from the local

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 ...

selected by the president (or in their absence a vice-president) of the Panel. At least one member, who will chair the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property), must be a president or vice-president of the panel or a lawyer appointed by the

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. The president or vice-president of a panel may direct that certain cases, or classes of cases, may be heard by a single chairman sitting alone and any application to cancel a registered rent because the property is no longer subject to a restricted contract will be heard by a single chairman.

Appeals

An appeal may be made, usually on a point of law only, to the

. The First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property) may also be required to sign and state a case for the opinion of the High Court. There is an approved procedure for such an appeal. Appeals on points of law are made to the Administrative Court of the High Court using a Part 8 Claim Form with the appropriate fee. Appeals may also be made on procedural irregularities by way of

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

. A further appeal may then be made to the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Courts of England and Wales#Senior Courts of England and Wales, Senior Courts of England and Wal ...

.s. 11(3) Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992

Procedure

Procedure is informal and there are few procedural rules. The procedure is governed by the Rent Assessment Committees (England and Wales) Regulations 1971 (SI 1065/1971), which has been amended a number of times since. The first stage will be for the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property), to establish whether it has jurisdiction in the matter. This will often be done by administrative staff. In cases where the administrative staff do not believe that they have jurisdiction they will refer the matter to the RAC to determine this point. The First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property) will accept representations either on paper or in person. Assuming that the committee accepts that it has the necessary jurisdiction to make a decision it will set down the matter for a hearing. Any of the involved parties can ask that the RAC hears evidence at the hearing to support their case although they are required to do so at least 28 days before the hearing date itself. In cases where the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property) is being asked to decide on a market rent, and in other cases where it seems appropriate, the committee members will seek to visit the property in question. They will usually do this on the morning of the day scheduled for the hearing.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Residential Property Tribunal Service pagePart 8 Claim Form from HM Courts ServiceWhat Does it Mean to Have Rent Abatement
Courts of England and Wales United Kingdom tribunals

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English land law Regulation in the United Kingdom