Nuisances
What signifies a
nuisance?
There are two basic types of nuisance in law, statutory
nuisance and common law nuisance.
Common law
nuisance
In common law there is something termed a 'nuisance' which can
be defined as a matter which is an unreasonable and has a
substantial interference on the use and enjoyment of a person's
property.
One-off events are not defined as a nuisance, for a matter to qualify and be actionable as a nuisance in law it must be a serious matter of continuous occurrence. Mere annoyance or personal taste does not constitute a nuisance. What is unreasonable will be a matter of fact, depending on the circumstances such as time, duration, location, frequency and locality.
One-off events are not defined as a nuisance, for a matter to qualify and be actionable as a nuisance in law it must be a serious matter of continuous occurrence. Mere annoyance or personal taste does not constitute a nuisance. What is unreasonable will be a matter of fact, depending on the circumstances such as time, duration, location, frequency and locality.
Action under common law must be taken by the person suffering
it and you are strongly advised to seek legal advice before
embarking on a common law nuisance action. The main consideration
is that common law nuisances are not restricted to specific and
strict types that form statutory nuisances as outlined below.
Statutory
nuisance
To be a statutory nuisance the nuisance complained of
must be, or be likely to become, detrimental to people's health or
interfere with a person's legitimate use and enjoyment of land.
This particularly applies to nuisance to neighbours in their homes
and gardens. For a nuisance to be
determined as a Statutory Nuisance it needs to occur for some
length of time, or with some frequency.
Under the Environmental
Protection Act 1990 and the Public Health Act 1936 a statutory
remedy can be applied for the following types of
nuisances:
- smoke
- dust
- odours
- accumulations of waste
- noise
- animals
A statutory nuisance action can be taken by an
individual or by the local authority. Your
Environmental Health Officer is trained to assess if a statutory
nuisance exists or is likely to occur, the local authority can then
serve an abatement notice.
An abatement notice can:
- enforce the person causing the nuisance to abate the nuisance (i.e. to lessen or reduce the nuisance)
- prohibit or restrict the nuisance
- require works or other steps to abate, restrict or remove the nuisance.