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Tort Law - Private Nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher
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These notes cover Rylands v Fletcher and Private Nuisance specifically.
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Tort Law 2Private Nuisance – Read v Lyons: an unlawful interference with a person’s use or enjoyment of his land,
or some right over, or in connection with that land
- The claimant and the defendant are geographically located close to one another and something
that defendant is going on his or her property is causing an unreasonable interference on the
claim and use and enjoyment of their land and property
- There is an interference with the enjoyment of the land
o It’s not personal injury – That would be negligence
- Indirect and unreasonable interference to land
o The defendant is doing something (undertaking or an activity or conduct) on their
property that’s giving rise to the indirect and unreasonable interference on to the
claimants
- Can be physical damage or harm
o This can include amenity interest – Enjoyment of the land
o Can include vibrations or physical objects (like cricket balls) that can cause damage to
the property
o This can also include smell wafting their way onto your garden
- Private nuisance regulates the way neighbours interact with one another – regulates the
relationship
o Conflict arises because of the activity from the neighbour
- You need to have a proprietary interest in the land – There is a difference to people are mere
users
o It’s about trying to strike a balance between the interests of the parties.
Private Nuisance – Definition (Conditions needed to make a claim)
- There must be an interference with the claimant’s use of enjoyment of land
o You have to establish that the claimant has an enjoyment of the land
- The defendant’s actions must constitute an unreasonable use of their land
o Objectively, the interference that arises is unreasonable
- The claimant must have the required interest in land in order to have capacity to sue
- The defendant must be responsible for the interference in order to be found liable
- There must be an absence of any defence
- A number of remedies may bb available
What constitutes an interference with the use or enjoyment of land?
- Typically, the defendant does something on their that causes something to be emitted,
continuously or intermittently, onto the neighbouring land of the claimant and this either causes
physical damage to the land or interfere with the plaintiff’s enjoyment of their land
o A one-off emission would not constitute a claim in private nuisance – It has to be
continuous or on a regular basis
- The claimant has to prove that they suffered a loss – There has to be some damage (amenity or
physical)
, St Helens Smelting Co v Tipping
- Smelting factory were causing trees and shrubs to die
o The vapours are the emission
- There was a distinction made here:
o Material injury to property/injury to the value of the property
o Personal discomfort (Loss of Amenity)
Hunter and Others v Canary Wharf – Claim in loss of amenity
- A tower was built in the Canary Wharf area – The tower was causing an interference to the
residents’ television reception
- The courts’ reasons:
o The court determined that the claims didn’t amount to a tort in private nuisance
There needs to be something emanating from the defendant’s property
• Smell, noise…etc
However, sometimes an activity is so offensive that you don’t need to prove
emanation (Thompson-Schwab v Costaki)
Also, if the claimant has to go out of there way to experience the nuisance, it’s
wouldn’t be enough – Pusey v Somerset County Council
o This claim didn’t include people who didn’t have a legal agreement in place in the
property
o The other issue was that if the court found for the claimant, what remedy would they
have exactly?
o The defendants have to be using the land unreasonably – The court found that they
weren’t using the land unreasonably – The owners of the land were trying to gentrify
the area
- Hoffman – Sensible personal discomfort – The action is not for causing discomfort to the person
but… for causing injury to the land
o How does it affect the land or the use and enjoyment of the land?
Walter v Selfe – The objective test
- Is the interference “materially interfering with the ordinary comfort physically of human
existence, not merely according to elegant or dainty modes and habits of living, but according to
plain and sober and simple notions among English people?”
Nuisance is about Strict Liability
- It doesn’t matter if the defendant took
all reasonable steps to avoid liability, it
would exonerate them – Cambridge
Water v Eastern Counties Leather
o Reasonable care is not enough
– This tort is seen as
consequence-based
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