Fun and games awaits us on May 1, 2013. You may remember that the government has previously announced plans to merge a range of property-related tribunals (LVT, RAC, etc) into the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (see our notes here and here). In a letter sent to the Property Chamber Users Group, it has been announced that – subject to Parliamentary approval – this will come into being on May 1, 2013. The letter gives more details of the proposed reform (mostly administrative, but it means that one member of the NL team will become a judge on that date; I wonder if he’ll insist on the rest of us bowing to him?). The letter makes a point that I confess I’d missed in the earlier consultation; the appeal routes for all tribunals merged into the FTT(PC) will be rationalised so that all appeals will now be to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). That means that there will no-longer be appeals from the RAC to the High Court, but to the UT(LC). Will that make rent appeals more common? An appeal to the UT is, I suspect, cheaper and easier than an appeal to the High Ct.