Are you suffering as a result of a Nuisance at your rented property

Landlord’s remember if you are undertaking work regarding  removing infestations at your tenant’s home then make sure that you pay a bit extra and get a thorough job done or you could be bitten  with a claim for damages resulting from nuisance as can be seen from the below mentioned case.

Siveter v Wandsworth LBC [2012] EWCA Civ 351,16 February 2012

The claimant was a council tenant. Her home was rendered uninhabitable by an infestation of 

poultry mites. She claimed that the mites had spread from a pigeon’s nest resting on a cupboard outside her flat, into the cupboard and through an opening into her flat. The council had arranged to have the nest removed, but the cupboard itself had not been inspected or sprayed. The judge rejected a claim that the landlord was liable for compensation on the basis that the council had acted reasonably in removing the nest and spraying the area even though it had not sprayed inside the cupboard. The Court of Appeal allowed an appeal and remitted the case to the county court for the assessment of quantum. The expert evidence was that, in addition to the nest removal, the cupboard should have at least been inspected and, probably, treated. It was inevitable and foreseeable that if left uninspected and untreated, the infestation would migrate from the cupboard and throughout the flat.

Originally reported by Beatrice Prevatt’s in the December 2012 Legal Action.

This article is for information purposes only.

Deborah Aloba

Affordable Law For You Limited