Greenman v Exeter City Council, 2007

Southern Rent Assessment Panel, 22nd February 2007, Residential Property Tribunal Service Reports

The landlady challenged the local authority's guidance on the kitchen requirements for houses in multiple occupation (HMO) where there were less than 8 occupants. Exeter City Council's published standards for HMOs were based on many year's experience, were the same as Birmingham and Newcastle and were provided for by the Housing Act 2004. The Council's view was that it’s published standards were the standards required by the Act and produced a letter from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in support of that view. Whilst the landlady agreed that she was bound by the standards set down in the Act, she argued that the assessment by the local authority should be on an individual rather than a blanket basis.

The Tribunal decided that it had to consider what was objectively required to satisfy the requirements of the Act and subordinate Regulations. These provided the statutory standards and "there is nothing in the Act or the Regulations to which the Tribunal's attention has been drawn to suggest that further Regulations having the same force may be drawn up by a local authority." This was despite the letter from the ODPM. The standards published by the local authority were indicative of the standards expected.