Jessica Allen has successfully secured an abatement order, compensation and costs for her client in respect of complaints laid against three superior leaseholders and their management agents which alleged that they had each failed to take steps to abate the statutory nuisance of the premises being in such a state as to be prejudicial to health by carrying out necessary repair works.
Jessica also successfully resisted an application for the proceedings to be stayed as an abuse of process due to the late disclosure of one of the expert reports.
Unusually the defendants did not challenge the evidence of the complainant’s environmental health officer that the statutory nuisance was caused by a series of structural and non-structural defects. Rather the defendants argued that they were not the “owner” in relation to the structural defects or the “person responsible” for the non-structural defects. The Court was assisted by detailed submissions on the meaning of “owner” and “defect of a structural character” in s.82(4)(b) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The Court was also presented with complex and contradicting evidence of the contractual arrangements between the defendants, notably in relation to the payment of rent, commission and service charges, as well as the allocation of responsibility for repairing the flat’s structure, installations and fittings. The prosecution case placed the Court in a better position to assess the individual responsibility of each defendant.
Where a complaint is proved, the Court is required to make an order: (i) requiring the defendant to abate the nuisance, within a specified time, and to execute any works necessary for that purpose; and (ii) prohibiting a recurrence of the nuisance and requiring the defendant, within a specified time, to execute any works necessary to prevent the recurrence. The Court may also impose a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
Following a three-day trial, the Judge ultimately found that the complaints were proved against all four defendants. The Judge ordered the defendants to carry out the works required to abate the nuisance and to pay compensation and costs of around £34,000 to the complainant.
Jessica was instructed on an urgent basis two days before trial by Helen Matthews of Antony Hodari Solicitors. Jessica is a specialist environmental lawyer and accepts instructions in all areas of environmental law, including statutory nuisance and other environmental torts.”