Brighton block gets a tribunal-appointed manager after its leases stalled fire safety works

What happened

On 3 November 2026 gov.uk published a First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) decision, dated 1 October 2026, appointing a manager for Buckingham Lodge, Buckingham Place, Brighton. The block was built in about the 1950s and has 24 flats, six of them added later on a new top floor.

The decision records that a fire risk assessment in September 2020 raised concerns about the escape routes and fire separation, and that a fire engineer’s reports in 2021 and 2022 found a substantial risk to life needing urgent action. Section 20 consultation on two schemes, estimated at about £176,000 and £226,000 plus VAT and fees, began in November 2022. No permanent scheme had been carried out by the time of the hearing on 11 August 2026, though some interim measures had been put in place.

Both sides agreed on the core problem. The leases of the original flats, granted around 1959 to 1961 for 999 years, allow a payment on account each year but, the parties said, give no workable way to collect the cost of major works in advance or to build a reserve fund. The freeholder, Marindia Traders Ltd, said it could not fund the works itself and supported the application. One leaseholder applied under section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, backed by several others, and no leaseholder objected.

The tribunal appointed Gareth Elliott of Pepper Fox Property Management as manager from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2029, with powers set out in a management order. It said the appointment is to resolve the fire safety works, is not a substitute for varying the leases, and will end once that purpose is met. It noted that more than £65,000 in voluntary payments was already held, and at the hearing it had asked for evidence of where that money sat and how it was held.

It also made an order under section 20C of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and the matching order for administration charges, so the freeholder’s legal costs of the case cannot be recovered from leaseholders. It noted the freeholder had been advised that a manager application was an option, yet a leaseholder had to bring it.

What it means for your building

Many older blocks have leases written long before reserve funds were usual. If yours cannot collect for major works in advance, a large job can stall even when everyone agrees it is needed, and every year of delay can show up in the insurance premium and the fire risk assessment.

As a rough worked example, a £176,000 job (before VAT and fees) shared equally across 24 flats is about £7,300 a flat. Leases often split costs unequally, so your figures may differ, but a sum that size is hard to collect in one demand after the work is done.

Three points from the decision are worth noting:

• The lease is the limit. A freehold or RTM company can only demand what the leases allow. Check yours before planning major works.
• Voluntary payments need care. If leaseholders pay into a works fund that the leases do not require, agree in writing what it is for, keep it in a separate account in the company’s name, and record who paid what. The tribunal needed this evidence before it could decide what the manager could do with it.
• Who pays for disputes is not automatic. Under section 20C the tribunal can stop a landlord’s legal costs going on the service charge.

What to do now

• Read the service charge and reserve fund clauses in every lease in your block (leases in one building can differ). Note whether they allow advance payments for major works and a reserve fund.
• If they do not, take advice on varying the leases, either by agreement with every leaseholder or by an application to the tribunal under Part 4 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.
• Check that your fire risk assessment’s actions have an owner, a date and a budget.
• If you already hold voluntary contributions, make sure they are in a separate, named account with a written record.

This is general information about one tribunal decision, not legal advice. Check the full decision and take advice on your own leases.

How Freeholdpilot helps

Freeholdpilot keeps each building’s leases, fire risk assessment and board decisions in one document store, keeps the service charge, reserve and company bank accounts separate in the books, and records section 20 consultation steps, so a board can see what its leases allow before it plans major works.