Rent assessment committee
Encyclopedia
A rent assessment committee is a tribunal
Tribunal
A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....

 in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

 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
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

 and thence to the Court of Appeal.

On the formation of the Residential Property Tribunal Service
Residential Property Tribunal Service
The Residential Property Tribunal Service is the umbrella organisation which provides support for three statutory tribunals and 5 regional rent assessment panels, all of which make decisions on residential property matters....

 as a result of the Housing Act 2004 the Rent Assessment Committee became part of that body for administrative purposes.

Jurisdiction

A rent assessment committee has the following jurisdictions:
  • cancellation of a registered rent (s. 81A Rent Act 1977)
  • determination of the terms of a statutory periodic assured tenancy
    Assured tenancy
    An assured tenancy is a form of residential tenancy in England and Wales that grants a degree of security of tenure to the tenant. A tenant under an assured tenancy may not be evicted without a reason and the rent under the assured tenancy will often fall under the supervision of a Rent Assessment...

     (s. 6 Housing Act 1988)
  • determination of a market rent for an assured tenancy
    Assured tenancy
    An assured tenancy is a form of residential tenancy in England and Wales that grants a degree of security of tenure to the tenant. A tenant under an assured tenancy may not be evicted without a reason and the rent under the assured tenancy will often fall under the supervision of a Rent Assessment...

     (s. 22 Housing Act 1988)
  • questions concerning purchase notices
  • questions concerning acquisition orders

Membership

A Rent Assessment Committee normally consists of two or three persons from the local Rent Assessment Panel selected by the President (or in their absence a Vice-President) of the Panel. At least one member, who will chair the Committee must be a President or Vice-President of the Panel or a lawyer appointed by the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

.

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 High Court of England and Wales
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

. The Tribunal 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
Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...

. A further appeal may then be made to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

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 committee 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 RAC 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 RAC 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.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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