An owner or agent who has an improvement notice or prohibition order served on him by a local council can appeal the notice, normally within 21 days. Appeals are heard by a Residential Property Tribunal (RPT) set up under the Act; RPTs have replaced the previous role of the County Court in hearing appeals against such action.

There is no restriction on the ground of appeal but the main grounds for appeal are likely to be that :

• The deficiency referred to in the notice does not amount to a hazard;
• Someone else is responsible for carrying out work at the property and the notice should be served on that person; and/or
• The works required in the notice are unreasonable/excessive etc. and alternative works should be considered

RPTs can be flexible in allowing appeals. RPTs may also mediate where possible between local councils and owners/agents to try to resolve appeals without a formal hearing.

If a notice is not complied within the time allowed (usually 28 days), prosecutions for non compliance are heard in magistrates courts. One defence that would be considered at this stage is that the notice was incorrectly served.