Supreme Court Rules on Edwards v Kumarasamy

Leaseholder Landlords will breathe a sigh of relief as the Supreme Court has overturned the previous COA decision in the case of EDWARDS v KUMARASAMY (2016) .

This case concerns a landlord’s repairing obligations of the common parts of the building and whether the tenant under the short lease is required to give the landlord notice of disrepair of the common parts. A claim was made by the tenant, Mr Edwards, who was injured when he tripped on the path leading down to the bins at the back of his block of flats.  The Court of Appeal decided in favour of the tenant and held that the landlord was liable for the repairs on the basis that a) no notice is required for repairs which are outside the property as the landlord could have spotted the problem for himself, and b) the landlord has an ‘estate or interest’ (s11(1A)(a)) under his lease as the landlord had access to the path where the accident took place.

The landlord appealed to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court recently overturned the Court of Appeal decision. The Supreme Court confirmed that the path outside was not part of the exterior  of the property demised to the landlord and the tenant was the person with the easiest opportunity to note any defects in the path and notify them to the landlord. Therefore, the landlord was not liable for the disrepair.

If you are a landlord and need to assistance of for further information please contact Nitika Singh on 0208 290 7347 or email nsingh@judge-priestley.co.uk