A recent
case* provides a useful illustration of what's meant by the term "quiet
enjoyment", usually either implied or, more often, expressly stated in
landlord's lease covenants.
A long
leaseholder of property in Hampstead Garden Suburb wanted to object to
extensive basement works proposed by a neighbour (including putting a swimming
pool under the back garden) which needed the Trust's consent.
The long
leaseholder argued that if the Trust allowed the works to go ahead it would be
in breach of its covenant for quiet enjoyment.
The court
disagreed and held that the Trust, in properly exercising its powers and rights
under the Hampstead Garden Suburb scheme of management, couldn't be in breach
of its landlord’s covenant for quiet enjoyment.
The
judgement makes some useful observations on what "quiet enjoyment"
actually means in law.
"Quiet",
in this context, has nothing to do with noise.
It means
without interference or interruption of the possession.
Even more
esoterically, "enjoy" doesn't mean what you might
think it means, but is in this context a translation of the Latin word
"fruor" and refers to the
exercise and use of the right and having the full benefit of it, rather than to
deriving pleasure from it.
There's
always been scant enjoyment in the usual sense to be found in the law after all!
A tenant
has a right to enjoy its premises without "substantial interference",
which is a question of fact and degree.
So if a
landlord has rights to develop its adjoining land, these would have to be balanced
against the tenant's rights.
Landlords
must not generally "derogate from grant" - meaning act in a way that
was never intended causing substantial interference to the enjoyment of the
premises.
There have been
many examples over the years of what does and doesn't amount to a breach - and
some of them are set out in the judgement below if you want to while away a few
minutes.
When I was
very much younger a friend and I rented a flat from someone whose idea of quiet enjoyment was to
start carrying out substantial redevelopment of the property a few weeks after
we'd moved in, to the ground floor, basement and garden.
I could
use up several gigabytes of internet space ranting about that, but I'll spare
you the real enjoyment of that particular bit of autobiography.
Photo by su neko via flickr
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