Disrepair webinar, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Law

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Catherine Rowlands, Rowan Clapp 9 June 2020

Rowan Clapp

Sources of landlord obligations

• Check the tenancy agreement – Terms may well

impose obligations on the landlord going well

beyond any statutorily implied minimum terms.

For example: Welsh v Greenwich LBC (2001)

33 HLR 438, CA – express obligation to keep

the property “in good condition”

• Otherwise, see s.11 Landlord and Tenant Act

1985 - will apply to most residential tenancies of

terms under 7 years (see s.12-15 LTA 1985)

s.11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

• “Repairing obligations in short leases”
• By s.11, a landlord has an obligation to: a. Keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling house (including drains, gutters and external pipes) b. Keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (inc. basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fitting and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity). c. Keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling house for pace heating and heating water

Meaning of disrepair (1)

• Disrepair occurs where there is deterioration (when part of the building is in a worse condition than at some earlier time) (see Post Office v Aquarious Properties Ltd [1987] 1 All ER 1055.)
• See also Denning LJ in Morcom v Campbell-Johnson [1956] 1 QB 106, [1955] 3 WLR 497, CA: “If the work which is done is the provision of something new for the benefit of the occupier, that is, properly speaking an improvement, but if it is only the replacement of something already there which has become dilapidated or worn out, albeit that it is a replacement by its modern equivalent, it comes within the category of repairs not improvements ”

Meaning of disrepair (2)

• See the remarks of Sachs LJ in Brew Bros Ltd v

Snax [1970] 1 QB 612, [1969] 3 WLR 657, CA :

“Look at the particular building, look at the state which it is in at the date of the lease, look at the precise terms of the lease, and then come to a conclusion whether, on a fair interpretation of those terms, in relation to that state, the requisite work can fairly be called repair”

Meaning of disrepair (4): is ‘repair’

required?

• Classically a matter of fact and degree: is the work too extensive or costly? Would it render the property ‘wholly different’ from that which was let?
• Guidance provided by Mustill LJ in McGougall v Easington DC (1989) 21 HLR 310, (1989) 58 P&CR 201, CA: “In my opinion three different tests may be discerned, which may be applied separately or concurrently as the circumstances of the individual case may demand, but all to be approached in the light of the nature and age of the premises, their condition when the tenant went into occupation, and the other express terms of the tenancy: (i) Whether the alterations went to the whole or substantially the whole of the structure or only to a subsidiary part; (ii) Whether the effect of the alterations was to produce a building of a wholly different character than that which had been let; (iii) What was the cost of the works in relation to the previous value of the building, and what was their effect on the value and lifespan of the building.”

Standard of repair at property

• NOTE: when conducting repairs there is also an

obligation on the landlord to make

good/redecorate after the works are complete

• In determining the standard of repair at a

property, consider the age, character and

prospective life of the dwelling house and its

locality (s. 11 ( 3 ) LTA 1985 ) (see Montoya v

Hackney LBC December 2005 Legal Action 28

QBD)

Areas to which the repairing

obligation applies

• Section 11(a) LTA 1985: The structure and exterior…
• Structure : “[…] those elements of the overall dwelling house which give it its essential appearance, stability and shape […] to some extent, in every case there will be a degree of fact to be gone into to decide whether or not something is or is not part of the structure of the dwelling house” (see Irvine’s Estate v Moran (19920 24 HLR 1, QBD at [5])
• Exterior: the outside / external part of the dwelling house, including all outside parts of the dwelling that has been let

Areas to which the repairing

obligation applies (2)

Examples: a. Plaster b. Walls and any cement rendering c. The roof (in relation to a house) d. The path and steps leading to a house if they form ordinary means of access e. A partition wall between the dwelling and another house f. Substantial or integral windows are part of the structure g. An extractor fan h. External joinery

Can the operation of s.11 LTA 1985 be

excluded?

• A landlord may not exclude the obligation

imposed by s.11 LTA 1985

• See s.12(1)(a)

• Similarly, an attempt to transfer liability for

repairs to the tenant will also be void.

• See s.11(4)

• Irvine’s Estate v Morgan (1991) 24 HLR 1, QBD

and Islington LBC v Keane December 2005,

Legal Action 28

Notice

• The Landlord is not liable to carry out repairs

unless and until he/she:

(1) has been put on notice of the need for repair

and

(2) has failed to carry out the repair within a

reasonable time period thereafter (see Morris v

Liverpool CC (1988) 20 HLR 498, [1988] 14 EG

59, CA.

Reasonable time to effect repairs…

• There is no prescribed statutory definition – will depend on the facts of each case
• Guide on what the government considers reasonable within Secure Tenants of Local Housing Authorities (Right to Repair) Regulations 1994 Sch 1 (SI No. 133 )
• If the landlord has given some indication of the times within which repairs will be completed, these will normally be relevant to whether ‘reasonable time’ has passed since notice was provided

Catherine Rowlands