Upper Tribunal sets aside striking out of appeal against selective licensing financial penalty

That ruling came from Upper Tribunal Judge Elizabeth Cooke in an appeal brought by landlord House For Homes, whose director is Marjan Keqaj.

Waltham Forest imposed a penalty of £15,600 for operating a house without a licence  under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004.

Mr Keqaj appealed to the FTT one month out of time, and it refused an extension.

He said he received a letter on 19 November 2024 from Waltham Forest, stating that the property concerns must be licensed.

Previous letters from Waltham Forest had not been received because they had been sent to the wrong address.

Mr Kaqaj said he applied for a licence two days later but heard nothing from Waltham Forest until March 2025 when he received a final notice of the financial penalty.

This described his right to appeal to the FTT but Mr Keqaj mistakenly sent his appeal to the council.

He then submitted his appeal to the FTT 28 days after the final notice supplying correspondence that explained he had misunderstood the procedure.

The FTT heard Mr Keqaj believed earlier correspondence had gone to accountants who had not forwarded it, but said it was his responsibility to ensure that the local authority had the correct address. It held Mr Keqaj had no justification for the late submission.

Judge Cooke said the Upper Tribunal granted permission to appeal as the FTT's decision might have failed to include relevant matters.

“In my judgment that is certainly the case,” Judge Cooke said. “The FTT's decision considered only whether Mr Keqaj had provided a proper reason for the delay.

She said the FTT did not consider the wrong address issue or Mr Keqaj's explanation that he wrote in error to Waltham Forest rather than the FTT. Nor did the FTT take into account the level of the penalty, and whether it was proportionate to strike out the appeal.

Judge Cooke said the failure of Waltham Forest to use Mr Keqaj's correct address before it sent the final notice was relevant.

She added: “Those were all relevant considerations that the FTT ignored, and for that reason in my judgment its decision was unjustifiable. I set it aside, and…I substitute the Tribunal's decision that the appeal is admitted in the FTT.”

Mark Smulian