The plaintiffs sued the owner of the adjoining house which had deteriorated so badly it had had to be demolished. The party wall was left standing but was largely unsupported.
Held: The defendant knew of the perilous state of her property (a semi-detached dwelling) and the judge applied the measured duty of care principle, to find her liable for damage resulting. The defendant should reasonably have appreciated the danger to the plaintiffs’ property from the dry rot and from the lack of repair of the defendant’s property and, because there were steps which the defendant could reasonably have taken to prevent the damage occurring, the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiffs to take such steps. The judge rejected the suggestion from the defendant that the claimants could have gone onto the property and taken appropriate steps to prevent the damage themselves.
Judges:
Judge Blackett-Ord VC
Citations:
[1983] 2 All ER 408
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Transco plc v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council HL 19-Nov-2003
Rylands does not apply to Statutory Works
The claimant laid a large gas main through an embankment. A large water supply pipe nearby broke, and very substantial volumes of water escaped, causing the embankment to slip, and the gas main to fracture.
Held: The rule in Rylands v Fletcher . .
Cited – LMS International Ltd and others v Styrene Packaging and Insulation Ltd and others TCC 30-Sep-2005
The claimants sought damages after their premises were destroyed when a fire started in the defendants neighbouring premises which contained substantial volumes of styrofoam. They alleged this was an unnatural use of the land.
Held: To . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Nuisance
Updated: 24 November 2022; Ref: scu.188047