A recent case has clarified landlords’ responsibilities for injuries in their buildings, after a man died after falling down a staircase in a residential block of flats.
Megan Dodd (Widow and Executrix of the Estate of Paul Dodd, Deceased) v Raebarn Estates Ltd & 5 Ors [2016]
In this case, the man, who was visiting a flat on the first floor, suffered brain damage and subsequently died after falling down the stairs. The staircase was steep and had no handrail. The freeholder of the three storey building used the ground floor for retail premises and leased the other floors to a developer as residential flats.
The man’s widow brought a claim against the freeholder, arguing it had not met its duty of care to her husband as a visitor under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 s.2, and had not kept the staircase reasonably safe under the Defective Premises Act 1972 s.4.
At the High Court hearing, questions arose as to whether the freeholder or the developer was in charge of the staircase, due to contradictory wording in the lease. The judge found that the staircase was under the developer’s control as it was obviously intended as a means of access to the first floor, and the freeholder had no control or duty of care over it.
The widow appealed. On appeal, it was found that the lease’s wording was simply an error and that the obvious intention was for the staircase to be controlled by the developer – it only led to the upper floors and there would have been no point in the freeholder retaining it.
Furthermore, although the stairs were potentially dangerous due to the lack of handrail and steepness, this was not the test for a defect that a landlord had a duty to repair under the Defective Premises Act – an object had to be out of repair for that duty to arise, and the staircase itself was well constructed. If this was the test then it could impose a substantial burden on a landlord to put right matters which are under a tenant’s control.
The appeal was dismissed and the freeholder was not therefore liable for the incident.
This case is a useful clarification of the law surrounding Occupiers’ Liability Act and Defective Premises Act issues for landlords.
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