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Delaware Mansions Ltd v City of Westminster

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200:- the owners of the tree - cut back the roots, and through January–July 1992 Flecksun - the freeholders - carried out a program of structural underpinning to stabilise the building. The total costs to Flecksun came to just over £570,000, and they sued Westminster, as owners of the tree, for compensation. 123:, stating that if a defendant knew about a continuing nuisance (in this case, cracking caused by tree roots), and had been given notice and opportunity to deal with it but failed to do so, then a claimant was entitled to receive costs for removing the nuisance themselves. It is a 238:
LLJ) granted the appeal, allowing Flecksun to claim the £570,000 damages along with a further £265,000 in interest. Westminster appealed, sending the case to the House of Lords. The case has been discussed extensively by
207:; the sale did not contain any mention of the right to legal action for nuisances. Westminster contended that if they were liable, then Flecksun could only sue for "fresh" damages caused by the tree 160: 203:
The issue was complicated by the fact that, until June 1990 - just before Westminster was first notified of the damage - the freehold to the estate was owned by the
188:), had received complaints of cracking in the building in 1989. An engineer's inspection that winter concluded that this was due to the roots of a large 90: 415: 395: 134: 80: 222:
QC dismissed Flecksun's claim (as well as that of Delaware Holdings, their parent company). Flecksun took the case to the
192:
tree outside the building, and recommended it be removed; if it could not be removed, then the foundations would need
390: 268: 354: 400: 405: 196:. A second report a year later made the same conclusions, with more urgency. Eventually, in October 1991, 215: 138: 95: 197: 85: 410: 112: 189: 204: 38:
Delaware Mansions Limited and Others v. Lord Mayor and Citizens of The City of Westminster
8: 219: 264: 62: 240: 223: 120: 154: 150: 384: 235: 175: 162: 231: 193: 124: 211:
the transfer; only the Commissioners could sue for the existing damage.
227: 115:, addressing the question of liability for repairing damage caused by 116: 368:
Neyers, Jason W. (2002). "Lord Cooke of Thorndon's Final Appeal".
338:
Neyers, Jason W. (2002). "Lord Cooke of Thorndon's Final Appeal".
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in his paper "Lord Cooke of Thorndon's Final Appeal."
382: 127:in the Law of Nuisance, Trees and Forestry. 370:Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 340:Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 111:( UKHL 55) is an English court ruling on 383: 367: 337: 258: 214:The case was initially heard by the 153:owners of the Delaware Mansions, a 119:. The court upheld a ruling of the 13: 361: 14: 427: 157:in Delaware Road, Maida Vale (at 416:2000s in the City of Westminster 396:2001 in United Kingdom case law 263:. London: Sweet & Maxwell. 261:The law of trees & forestry 108:Delaware v. City of Westminster 21:Delaware v. City of Westminster 331: 322: 313: 304: 295: 286: 277: 252: 1: 246: 144: 7: 226:, where a panel of judges ( 133:was the last case in which 10: 432: 139:Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 355:Full text of the judgment 73: 68: 58: 47:25 October 2001 43: 33: 25: 20: 259:Mynors, Charles (2002). 216:Official Referees' Court 301:UKHL 55, para 3-4, 9-10 391:English nuisance cases 176:51.526224°N 0.190482°W 135:Lord Cooke of Thorndon 81:Lord Cooke of Thorndon 91:Lord Browne-Wilkinson 401:House of Lords cases 205:Church Commissioners 181:51.526224; -0.190482 406:City of Westminster 198:Westminster Council 172: /  292:UKHL 55, para 9-10 328:UKHL 55, para 3-4 283:UKHL 55, para 6-8 218:, where Recorder 104: 103: 423: 377: 376:(2): 265–270(6). 348: 347: 346:(2): 265–270(6). 335: 329: 326: 320: 319:UKHL 55, para 11 317: 311: 308: 302: 299: 293: 290: 284: 281: 275: 274: 256: 187: 186: 184: 183: 182: 177: 173: 170: 169: 168: 165: 69:Court membership 54: 52: 18: 17: 431: 430: 426: 425: 424: 422: 421: 420: 381: 380: 364: 362:Further reading 351: 336: 332: 327: 323: 318: 314: 310:UKHL 55, para 5 309: 305: 300: 296: 291: 287: 282: 278: 271: 257: 253: 249: 241:Jason W. Neyers 224:Court of Appeal 180: 178: 174: 171: 166: 163: 161: 159: 158: 147: 121:Court of Appeal 100: 50: 48: 12: 11: 5: 429: 419: 418: 413: 411:2001 in London 408: 403: 398: 393: 379: 378: 363: 360: 359: 358: 350: 349: 330: 321: 312: 303: 294: 285: 276: 269: 250: 248: 245: 155:block of flats 146: 143: 102: 101: 99: 98: 93: 88: 83: 77: 75: 74:Judges sitting 71: 70: 66: 65: 60: 56: 55: 45: 41: 40: 35: 34:Full case name 31: 30: 29:House of Lords 27: 23: 22: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 428: 417: 414: 412: 409: 407: 404: 402: 399: 397: 394: 392: 389: 388: 386: 375: 371: 366: 365: 356: 353: 352: 345: 341: 334: 325: 316: 307: 298: 289: 280: 272: 266: 262: 255: 251: 244: 242: 237: 233: 229: 225: 221: 217: 212: 210: 206: 201: 199: 195: 191: 185: 156: 152: 142: 140: 136: 132: 128: 126: 122: 118: 114: 110: 109: 97: 94: 92: 89: 87: 84: 82: 79: 78: 76: 72: 67: 64: 61: 57: 46: 42: 39: 36: 32: 28: 24: 19: 16: 373: 369: 343: 339: 333: 324: 315: 306: 297: 288: 279: 260: 254: 213: 208: 202: 194:underpinning 190:London plane 148: 130: 129: 125:leading case 107: 106: 105: 37: 15: 179: / 96:Lord Hutton 385:Categories 357:, UKHL 55 270:0421590408 247:References 220:Derek Wood 164:51°31′34″N 145:Background 117:tree roots 86:Lord Steyn 51:2001-10-25 167:0°11′26″W 137:sat as a 151:freehold 131:Delaware 113:nuisance 59:Citation 63:UKHL 55 49: ( 44:Decided 267:  236:Thorpe 234:, and 228:Beldam 209:after 26:Court 265:ISBN 232:Pill 149:The 387:: 372:. 342:. 230:, 141:. 374:2 344:2 273:. 53:)

Index

UKHL 55
Lord Cooke of Thorndon
Lord Steyn
Lord Browne-Wilkinson
Lord Hutton
nuisance
tree roots
Court of Appeal
leading case
Lord Cooke of Thorndon
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
freehold
block of flats
51°31′34″N 0°11′26″W / 51.526224°N 0.190482°W / 51.526224; -0.190482
London plane
underpinning
Westminster Council
Church Commissioners
Official Referees' Court
Derek Wood
Court of Appeal
Beldam
Pill
Thorpe
Jason W. Neyers
ISBN
0421590408
Full text of the judgment
Categories
English nuisance cases

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