Commentary on Sections Part 1 - Housing Conditions Chapter 2 – Improvement Notices, Prohibition Orders and Hazard Awareness Notices Section 19: Change in person liable to comply with improvement notice
102.Section 19 makes provision for a change in circumstance where the original recipient of an improvement notice is no longer the person on whom it would have been appropriate to serve the notice. For example, an owner or landlord may have sold the property, or the manager of an HMO may have been replaced. In such cases, the requirement to comply with the improvement notice transfers to a relevant successor. This should not take new owners unawares, as improvement notices are land charges and will be revealed by the local search.
103.Subsection (4) provides that, in the event of a change in the liable person (for the meaning of which see subsections (7), (8) and (9)), the period for complying with a notice or bringing an appeal is unaffected.
104.Subsection (5) provides that, where the original recipient of an improvement notice has already incurred a liability - e.g. he has been fined for non-compliance or obstruction - he retains that liability despite the subsequent transfer of responsibility.