Under Section 20ZA of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, a tribunal may grant a landlord dispensation from the requirement to consult tenants about significant works if it finds it reasonable to do so. Recently, a landlord who carried out urgent repairs to his property in order to prevent water damage was granted such a dispensation.

The property, a mid-terrace Victorian house, had been divided into two self-contained flats. The managing agents had been contacted about water ingress during bad weather that was causing damage to the property. Repairs to the roof were carried out shortly afterwards, at a cost of £1,800 including VAT.

Where landlords carry out works without consulting tenants, the contribution they can seek from the tenants towards the cost of those works is limited by virtue of Section 20 of the Act. The landlord applied to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for dispensation from the consultation requirements on the grounds that the work was urgently necessary to prevent further damage to the property.

The FTT had received no objection from the tenants regarding the cost of the work. It accepted that the work had been urgent and did not find that the tenants would suffer prejudice as a result of not being consulted. Taking all the circumstances into account, the FTT was satisfied that it was reasonable to grant dispensation.

The FTT noted that its decision did not deal with the question of whether the cost of the work was payable by the tenants under the terms of their leases, and that it was open to the tenants to apply to the FTT under Section 27A of the Act for a determination of their liability to pay any resulting service charges.