Landlords liability for repairs - case update!

We have previously reported on a Court of Appeal decision, which has very broad implications for landlords, tenants and letting agents alike.

The facts of the case are simple, in that a tenant who lived in a block of flats tripped on a path outside his flat as he took his rubbish to the communal bins and as a result, he hurt his knee. He was a tenant under a short term tenancy. He brought a claim against his immediate landlord, the owner of the flat. The interesting fact is that the landlord against whom the claim was brought was only a flat owner, not the freeholder and the landlord did not own the path or the block of flats.

The Court of Appeal held that the tenant's landlord was liable for the repair of the path despite the fact that the landlord did not even know that the path was uneven. The accepted wisdom was that a landlord could not be held liable if he had not been given notice of the need for repairs. The Court concluded that the landlord could have discovered the problems relating to the path and he had a sufficient 'estate or interest' in the land to satisfy the technical criteria to bring the claim.

The decision sent shock waves through the letting community.

The landlord appealed to the Supreme Court which overturned the earlier decision and held that repairing obligations could only extend to the structure and external parts of the building itself. In addition, an obligation to repair common parts could only be triggered once the landlord was given notice of the need for repair.

The decision is a relief to buy to let landlords who may have faced claims from tenants for damages and repairs in relation to defects of which they had no knowledge.

The case also reminds us that if tenants are aware of disrepair which falls outside their responsibility, they must serve notice of the disrepair on the landlord if they expect the repairs to be carried out.

To discuss this or any other landlord and tenant related issue, contact us.

Case: Edwards v Kumarasemy [2016] UKSC 40

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