Hi forum,
our local council is threatening a money order against the leaseholders of our flat.
Mayor works happen under S20 notices 4 and 2 years ago, and the combined bill is many thousands of pounds. The works were done badly, a lot of it was unnecessary, and very many of the promises made under the s20 notices have not been delivered.

I have pages of evidence, witness testimony and photos to back me up.

However it had been hard to get a in touch with any of the other leaseholders because they are in a majority absentee landlords, and their tenants do not speak good english. (This has stalled my attempts at initiation a 'class action' style appeal over the years, I had also been pre-occupied with other matters).

The council have their own internal arbitration panel and there is the LVT also (at a cost), but since the major works department have threatened to start the ball rolling in 5 days, how can I play my cards so that the judge postpones the hearing until all avenues of arbitration have been ressolved?

I am also a bit fearful that there may be a timeout in reverting to the arbitration, and the council may argue that i missed the boat, so the judge will side with them by default.

Another point is that the more recent works bill has been rolled into the one from years before, can I ask the judge to dismiss the case based on the fact that 2 separate claims should be filed for each s20 demand?

many thanks for any ideas.
bert