House for Homes Limited v London Borough of Waltham Forest

Facts

The appellant, House for Homes Limited, owned a property at 11A Winchester Road, London. The London Borough of Waltham Forest, as local housing authority, imposed a financial penalty of £15,600 on the company for operating a house without the licence required under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004. The appellant's director, Mr Marjan Keqaj, says he received a letter from Waltham Forest on 19 November 2024 telling him the property required a licence, earlier communications having been sent to the wrong address, and that he applied for a licence on 21 November 2025. He heard nothing further until 25 March 2025, when he received a Final Notice imposing the penalty. He wrote to Waltham Forest the following day seeking to appeal, not appreciating that the appeal lay to the First-tier Tribunal; Waltham Forest acknowledged the letter as representations and, on 8 May 2025, sent a response headed "Notice of Intent to Issue a Financial Penalty" declining to cancel the penalty. Mr Keqaj emailed the FTT on 8 May 2025 attaching those representations and submitted the appeal to the FTT on 22 May 2025, 30 days after the 28-day period expired. The FTT refused to extend time and struck out the appeal for want of jurisdiction. The appellant appealed with permission from the Upper Tribunal.