Housing Act 1988

3 (1) In section 191 (appeals against repair notices), after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(1A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), it shall be a ground of appeal that some person other than the appellant, being a person who is an owner in relation to the dwelling-house or part of the building concerned, ought to execute the works or pay the whole or part of the cost of executing them.”

(2) In subsection (3) of that section for the words “the house” there shall be substituted “the dwelling-house”.

(3) After subsection (3) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsections—

“(3A) Where the grounds on which an appeal is brought are or include that specified in subsection (1A), the appellant shall serve a copy of his notice of appeal on each other person referred to; and on the hearing of the appeal the court may—

(a) vary the repair notice so as to require the works to be executed by any such other person; or

(b) make such order as it thinks fit with respect to the payment to be made by any such other person to the appellant or, where the works are executed by the local housing authority, to the authority.

(3B) In the exercise of its powers under subsection (3A), the court shall take into account, as between the appellant and any such other person as is referred to in that subsection,—

(a) their relative interests in the dwelling-house or part of the building concerned (considering both the nature of the interests and the rights and obligations arising under or by virtue of them);

(b) their relative responsibility for the state of the dwelling-house or building which gives rise to the need for the execution of the works; and

(c) the relative degree of benefit to be derived from the execution of the works.

(3C) If, by virtue of the exercise of the court’s powers under subsection (3A), a person other than the appellant is required to execute the works specified in a repair notice, then, so long as that other person continues to be an owner in relation to the premises to which the notice relates, he shall be regarded as the person having control of those premises for the purposes of the following provisions of this Part.”