Costs

Lands Appeal Tribunal hearing appeal from Leasehold Valuation Tribunal - appeal separate proceedings, so appeal tribunal having jurisdiction to award costs - costs award enforceable in High CourtGoldstein v Conley: CA (Lords Justice Mantell and Clarke and Sir Anthony Evans): 4 May 2001The landlord and the tenant of a flat referred their dispute over the price for the grant of a long lease under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT).

Both parties appealed the LVT's decision to the Lands Appeal Tribunal (LAT).

The LAT, determining the appeals in favour of the landlord, awarded the costs of the appeal for the landlord, who sought to enforce the award in the High Court.

The master and the judge rejected the tenant's contention that the LAT had no power to award costs on proceedings originating in the LVT, which itself had no such power, and that since section 90(2) of the 1993 Act provided for the current dispute to be resolved by the county court the award could not be enforced in the High Court.

The tenant appealed against the decisions of the LAT and of the High Court.Anthony Trace QC and James Aldridge (instructed by the Bar Pro Bono Unit) for the tenant.

Gary Cowen (instructed by Tibber Beauchamp-Ward) for the landlord.Held, dismissing the appeals, that the proceedings in the LVT and the LAT were separate proceedings and thus the LAT had power under section 3(5) of the Lands Tribunal Act 1949 to award costs of the hearing before it, even though the proceedings had originated from LVT; and that section 90(2) of the 1993 Act did not deprive the High Court of its inherent power to enforce the costs award at common law in the same way that it could to enforce a judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction.