Mowan v Wandsworth LBC [2000]

A council landlord could not be liable in nuisance to a tenant for disturbance caused by another tenant, as the person to be sued in nuisance is the occupier of the property from which the nuisance emanated.

A council tenant brought action against the council as his landlord, as the council would not terminate the occupation of the tenant in flat above him whose behavour was a nuisance to neighbouring tenants. The tenant above him had a mental disorder, and the police received frequent complaints about this tenant from the residents of the other council housing and advised the council that she should be in a care home. However, the council thought that she should be in the community.

The claimant sought an injunction and damages against the council, contending that they were liable for the behaviour of the other tenant because they had known of the nuisance and had adopted it by failing to abate it. The council applied for the claim to be struck out under the Civil Procedure Rules on the ground that it must fail. The county court allowed the application.

The claimant appealed, and the issue was whether he had a remedy against the council in either nuisance or negligence.

The council contended that, by long established law, a landlord was not liable for nuisance unless it was authorised by him, which here it had not been. The claimant alleged that striking out her action before trial was contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.

On appeal:
HELD: The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, as the person to be sued in nuisance is the occupier of the property from which the nuisance emanated. The landlord is only liable if he authorised his tenant to commit this nuisance. The tenant also did not have an action in negligence, and striking out the application was not a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Citation: Mowan v Wandsworth LBC [2000] EWCA Civ 357