NOISE FROM FLAT HELD TO CONSTITUTE A NUISANCE

Stannard v Charles Pitcher Ltd [2002] BLR 441

In Stannard v Charles Pitcher Ltd [2002] BLR 441, Mr John Slater QC, sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court, held the defendant liable in nuisance in respect of the noise emanating from his flat. The noise was caused by the sound made by people walking on the ceramic and marble tiles which had been laid on the floor in the defendant’s flat. In finding the defendant liable Mr Slater QC drew on the terms of the lease concluded between the defendant and the lessor. The effect of one of the clauses in the lease was to impose on lessees an obligation to provide flooring which would minimise noise penetration into other flats. This obligation was notionally breached on the facts of the case and it would appear that it is this factor that was decisive in terms of distinguishing the present case from the decision of the House of Lords in Southwark London Borough Council v Mills [2001] 1 AC 1 (albeit that, for some reason, no consideration was given to the latter case in the judgment itself).