The appellants’ application for permission to appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of a judicial review claim in respect of the imposition of the loan charge was refused, as the Court of Appeal considered that most of the grounds of appeal had no prospect of success. 

The appellants brought judicial review proceedings to challenge the imposition of the ‘loan charge’ (in F(No 2)A 2017, Sch 11). The remedy sought in the application included an order quashing the follower notices issued to the claimants and an incompatibility declaration (i.e. under the Human Rights Act 1998, s 4(2)). The claimants alleged that this retrospective legislation was a disproportionate interference with their enjoyment of a possession contrary to A1P1 of the ECHR.

The High Court ([2019] EWHC 3382 (Admin)) dismissed the appellants’ judicial review claim. In January 2020, the appellants sought permission to appeal against the dismissal of