Judicial Appointments Commission
Valuer Chair of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Residential Property
Expert member of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Residential Property
Number of vacancies: Immediate: 20 (8 Chairs/12 Expert Members across England in Southern, London, Northern, Midland and Eastern Regions)
Fee/s: Valuer Chair - £575.08, or £593.26 (including London Weighting Fee) and Expert Member £359.14

Are you a Chartered Surveyor with membership or fellowship of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)? Do you have current valuation experience, and an understanding of the work of the Residential Property Chamber? Are you looking for a fee-paid role with a public service remit with flexible and interesting work?

About the roles

As a Fee-paid Valuer Chair of the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Residential Property you will adjudicate on applications, appeals and references about disputes over property, and draft the final tribunal decision. You may also participate in mediation for which training will be provided. Property Chamber Tribunals usually comprise a judge, an expert member and a lay member. You may sit alone or with one or two other panel members to hear and review cases. The Chair has equal responsibility for assessing the evidence, determining the facts, and applying the law in reaching the tribunal decision. Experience of some court/tribunal or similar work, such as sitting as a tribunal member, arbitrator, magistrate, as an expert witness or in some other capacity, would be desirable, but is not essential.

As a Fee-paid Valuer Member of the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Residential Property you will adjudicate on applications, appeals and references about disputes over property. You may also participate in mediation for which training will be provided. Property Chamber Tribunals usually comprise a judge, an expert member and a lay member. You may sit with the Chair and another panel member to hear and review cases. The expert member has equal responsibility for assessing the evidence, determining the facts, and applying the law in reaching the Tribunal decision.

A current knowledge of the legislative and regulatory environment is desirable although training will be given. Candidates must be Members or Fellows of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) who are Chartered Surveyors with valuation practice experience. Candidates must be able to offer a reasonable length of service before reaching the retirement age of 75 following recommendation.

Twenty vacancies are available in the Property Chamber, with 8 Chairs and 12 Expert Members across England in Southern, London, Northern, Midland and Eastern Regions. In Southern region (Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Gloucestershire and Dorset) – 3 Valuer Chairs and 3 Valuer Members; in London Region – 2 Valuer Chairs and 4 Valuer Members; in Northern Region (Lincolnshire, Cumbria, Scarborough and Liverpool) – 2 Valuer Chairs and 1 Valuer Member; in Midland Region – 1 Valuer Chair wanted in either Leicestershire/Warwickshire or West Birmingham and 1 Valuer Member in Staffordshire/North Birmingham, 1 Valuer Member in Leicestershire/ Nottinghamshire; and in Eastern Region (Thames Corridor/Herts, Essex areas) – 2 Valuer Members.

Tribunal proceedings may be conducted face-to-face at in-person hearings or remotely by video or telephone. The tribunal also makes determinations on the consideration of documents alone. Case papers are usually provided electronically. Members are expected to have sufficient IT competency to deal with cases on this basis.

All new members will need to attend a two-day induction training course when appointed. You may be asked to attend other training as required.

About the Property Chamber

The Property Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal deals with a broad range of landlord and tenant and housing cases. The Chamber has three divisions, Residential, Property, Land Registration and Agricultural Land and Drainage. Residential Property has the highest caseload of the three divisions, dealing with over 10,000 cases a year. It has five regional areas in England: London, Southern, Eastern, Northern and Midland. Each region is headed by a Regional Judge, with a Regional Surveyor who provides advice and guidance to the valuer and valuer chairs.

Cases include the determination of management questions and the payability of service charges in long leases; deciding the price of freeholds and extended leaseholds under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 and the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993; and the determination of fair rents under the Rent Act 1977 and market rents under the Housing Act 1988. In addition, Residential Property has jurisdiction to deal with appeals and applications under the Housing Act 2004 and Housing and Planning Act 2016, and disputes relating to park homes under the Mobile Homes Act 1983. More recently, the Tribunal has acquired or will acquire jurisdiction to make orders under the Electronic Communications Code and the Building Safety Act 2022.

Further Details

We recommend all candidates familiarise themselves with the judicial appointments selection process by visiting our website: www.judicialappointments.gov.uk and make use of the guidance on the application process.

For further details please visit:www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/non-legal-tribunal-member-roles/

Candidates seeking further information about the post can contact Regional Surveyor (Eastern) at: TribunalJudge.Hardman@ejudiciary.net.

Applications open on Tuesday 7 November 2023 at 13:00 and close on Tuesday 28 November at 13:00.

Please click the apply button to register your details for this position.