(1)Where the tenant of a house or his agent has—
(a)incurred expenditure in complying with a repair notice, or in paying the expenses of a local authority who has carried out the works specified in such a notice, and
(b)intimated service of the notice and its purport to the landlord under the lease in writing within 14 days after such service,
the tenant or the landlord may, in the absence of any agreement between them, apply to the sheriff to determine what part, if any, of the expenditure is payable by the landlord to the tenant.
(2)In determining an application under subsection (1), the sheriff shall make such determination as he thinks fit having regard to—
(a)the obligations of the landlord and the tenant under the lease with respect to the repair of the house;
(b)the length of the unexpired term of the lease;
(c)the rent payable under the lease; and
(d)all other relevant circumstances.
(3)Where the sheriff makes an order for payment by the landlord to the tenant, and the landlord in question is himself a tenant of the house under another lease, he shall be treated for the purposes of this section as being a tenant who has incurred expenditure under subsection (1)(a).
(4)In this section “lease” includes a sublease and any tenancy, and the expressions “landlord” and “tenant” shall be construed accordingly.