A tenant of a flat in a London mansion block has triumphed in an appeal claim that he is entitled to damages for a period of disrepair to the property, even though he chose to live elsewhere for other reasons during the relevant period.
Briggs LJ, allowing the appeal, said that no reported case had been found that decisively answered the point of principle raised – namely whether the loss caused by a lessor’s breach of obligations in respect of disrepair “lies in the impairment of the amenity value of the lessee’s proprietary interest in the flat, for which he has paid rent or a premium, or in the experience of discomfort, inconvenience and distress which the lessee actually suffers because of the disrepair”.
He ruled that the true nature of the loss is the former, but that the latter can be taken into account in mitigation.
Having surveyed the authorities, he said that the better view is that “the loss consists in the impairment to the rights of amenity afforded to the lessee by the lease of which discomfort, inconvenience and distress (and even the deterioration of the health of a loved one) are only symptoms”.
He added: “It is therefore not a fatal obstacle to a claim for damages for that impairment in the lessee’s rights that the lessee may have chosen not to make full use, or even any use, of them during part or even all of the relevant period, for reasons unconnected with the disrepair itself.”
However, he said that it by no means followed that such non-use is irrelevant, and that it could be taken into account as mitigation of loss.
The damages in this case, he said, should be “substantially reduced” because the tenant, Mansing Moorjani, “unusually” chose not to occupy the flat for most of the relevant period.
He awarded Moorjani £3,930, on top of specific awards of £1,650 for warped doors and £1,800 for bedroom repairs, which were made by Judge May at Central London County Court – a total of £7,380.
Moorjani took a 150-year lease of Flat 67, Ivor Court, Gloucester Place, London, NW1, from landlord Durban Estates Ltd in 1977, but suffered flooding damage to his flat as a result of a serious leak from the flat above in 2005.
However, he was living with his sister at the time and continued to do so until 2008. Durban Estates sold the reversion in 2011.
Moorjani v Durban Estates Ltd Court of Appeal (Longmore, Briggs and King LJJ) 4 December 2015
Simon Williams (direct access) for the appellant
Elodie Gibbons (instructed by Charles Russell Speechly LLP) for the respondent
