Indemnity costs against local authority

Terry v Tower Hamlets LBC QBD RCJ 15 December

In litigation arising out of the exercise of the claimant’s right to buy, the proceedings were commenced only after two letters from the claimant’s representatives were not answered by the defendant and this was followed by various delays and defaults in the litigation, which the judge described as verging on the disgraceful. Although the court appreciated the considerable pressures under which busy councils operate, the conduct of the defendant in respect of these proceedings crossed the threshold of qualification for an award of costs on the indemnity basis up to the service of the defence and on the standard basis thereafter.