Brompton Estates Nominees No.1 Limited & Brompton Estates Nominees No.2 Limited v Wall Properties Limited

Ovington Court is an occupied higher-risk building within the meaning of section 71 of the 2022 Act. The difficulty in the present case is that both the Applicants and the Respondent appear to fall within the definition of accountable person, albeit for different parts of the Building.

The Applicants and Respondent are each accountable persons within the meaning of section 73(1)(b) of the 2022 Act as each holds a legal estate in possession of relevant parts of the structure and exterior of the Building. Accordingly, the provisions of section 75(2) are engaged: the tribunal must consider which accountable person is appropriate to be the principal accountable person for the Building. There is no further guidance within the 2022 Act as to how the tribunal determines which accountable person it considers is appropriate to be the principal accountable person. However, on the facts of the present case, the parties agree that the Respondent would be the most appropriate on the grounds that it is under a repairing obligation in relation to: (1) the structure and exterior surfaces of the majority of the Building, including those floors solely occupied for residential purposes and (2) the common parts generally within those floors