The landlord had failed in his duty to repair. One tenant’s health suffered because of the damp, and they had to rent other premises.
Held: The landlord has only a reasonable time to effect repairs once he has been given notice of the need for them. Damages for breach of a covenant to repair are to compensate the tenant for inconvenience and discomfort of occupying premises in disrepair, not for diminution in rental value.
Judges:
Stephenson LJ
Citations:
[1984] 1 WLR 287, [1983] 3 All ER 759
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Morris v Liverpool City Council CA 1988
The court was concerned with the implied statutory obligations of repair on the landlord: ‘It is common ground that the door and frame of the flat were part of the structure and exterior of the flat within the meaning of the implied statutory . .
Cited – Niazi Services Ltd v Johannes Marinus Henricus Van Der Loo CA 10-Feb-2004
The tenant counterclaimed an action by the landlord for rent saying the property had not been repaired under the landlord’s covenant. The water supply had for 33 months been weak, leading to only a trickle of water being available, and there had . .
Cited – Wallace and others v Manchester City Council CA 23-Jul-1998
Damages payable to a tenant for a landlord’s failure to repair whilst the tenant remained in the property were not separate damages for discomfort and diminution in rental value since these amounted to the same thing: ‘for periods when the tenant . .
Cited – Hussain v Mehlman CC 5-Mar-1992
(County Court) The defendant landlord granted the plaintiff a three year assured shorthold tenancy. He now appealed a finding that he was in breach of an implied covenant to maintain the space heating, and otherwise. The tenant had returned the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Housing, Damages
Updated: 31 July 2022; Ref: scu.187738