The authority appealed against an award made in arbitration proceedings brought by its tenant who complained that she could hear everything happening in a neighbouring flat, even though the tenants of that flat wer acting reaosnably.
Held: (Sir Peter Gibson dissenting) The appeal succeeded. A landlord’s duty to provide quiet enjoyment under his covenant for that purpose, does not extend so far as to require an improvement in the sound-proofing of a building well beyond standards which had applied at the time when the houses were built.
Sir Peter Gibson said that if the noise made by neighbouring tenants in the course of their ordinary use of their flats amounted to an interference with Mrs. Tanner’s reasonable use of her flat, she could be estopped from complaining only if she had expressly or impliedly consented to the noise.
Judges:
Schiemann, Mantell, Peter Gibson LJJ
Citations:
Times 20-Aug-1998, Gazette 09-Sep-1998, [1998] EWCA Civ 1319, [1999] 2 WLR 409
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Southwark London Borough Council v Mills and Others ChD 11-Mar-1998
A claim for a breach of the landlord’s covenant for quiet enjoyment, through the sound of normal activities from a neighbour being heard, succeeded. . .
Cited by:
Appeal from – Southwark London Borough Council v Mills/Tanner; Baxter v Camden London Borough Council HL 21-Oct-1999
Tenants of council flats with ineffective sound insulation argued that the landlord council was in breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment in their tenancy agreements.
Held: A landlord’s duty to allow quiet enjoyment does not extend to a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Landlord and Tenant, Nuisance
Updated: 23 November 2022; Ref: scu.144798
