Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
I read a report recently of a case where the seller of a property was ordered to pay damages to the buyer because of a failure to disclose that there were noisy neighbours.
We have very noisy next-door-neighbours in a house rented from a local landlord. In the light of the case mentioned, do you think it possible that we might be successful in suing the landlord for his lack of care in choosing a tenant if we are unable to sell our house or have to accept a reduced price?
Answer :-
Whilst the situations may seem very similar, variations on a theme, they are in fact quite different.
In the case that you refer to there was a contract between the seller and buyer of a property and the successful action was possible because the seller had either innocently or deliberately misrepresented the situation.
The standard questionnaires which are used at the time of a house sale ask about disputes. Questions such as:
Is there a dispute or anything which might lead to a dispute about this or any neighbouring property?
Have you received any complaints about anything you have or have not done as the owner? Have you made any complaints to any neighbour about what the neighbour has or has not done?
Clearly to respond no to these questions if you have had disputes with neighbours over noise would be a misrepresentation and would open you to an action for damages.
Your situation is different in that you do not have any sort of contract or agreement with the landlord of the adjoining property and it would be a much more difficult to mount an action against him.
At a practical level, I assume that you have already tried to resolve the situation with the tenant and the landlord, without success. If you have not done so already, it is worth giving it a shot.
Tenancy agreements have a standard clause to the effect that the tenant will not do - or allow anyone else to do - anything on the property which may be a nuisance to the landlords, tenants or occupiers of any adjoining premises. So your noisy neighbours would certainly be in breach of that and the landlord could throw them out if they failed to mend their ways.
After that your next option is to lodge a complaint about the noise with the local authority's department of Environmental Health, which has the statutory duty and powers to deal with the problem of noisy neighbours.
If the problems are more than just loud noise - say foul and abusive language, threats and so on - then that is a criminal matter and you should file a complaint with the police.
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