Manaquel Co Ltd (Appellant) v London Borough of Lambeth (Respondent)
Wednesday 06 May 2026
By Appellant’s Notice filed on 30 May 2025 and issued on 2 June 2025 the Appellant appeals a decision of the Upper Tribunal, delivered on 25 March 2025.
Lambeth served an improvement notice in 2021 requiring extensive works at Dorchester Court. Manaquel successfully appealed, and the notice was quashed in 2023. Manaquel then sought costs of about £145,000, alleging unreasonable conduct by Lambeth. Although the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) described Lambeth’s conduct as “incompetent,” it found it was not “unreasonable”.
On appeal, the Upper Tribunal held that the FTT had applied the wrong legal test by focusing on the property’s condition at the hearing rather than when the notice was issued. The Upper Tribunal concluded that it remained fair and just to refuse costs and dismissed the appeal.