FIT FOR HABITATION AND THE DEFECTIVE PREMISES ACT 1972

In Bole v Huntsbuild Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 1146, [2010] All ER (D) 84 (Feb) the Court of Appeal held, dismissing an appeal, that the trial judge had been entitled to conclude that the existence of fundamental defects in the foundations, coupled with the visible defects in the superstructure caused by the ground heave, was a sound reason for holding that the dwelling was unfit for habitation under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972. It was also held that the duration of the remedial works may be a material factor in deciding whether a dwelling is unfit for habitation, that the focus of the court should be upon whether the building is fit for habitation and not upon whether it is fit or suitable for its purpose and that the cost of remedying all of the defects attributable to the defective foundations was a foreseeable consequence of the breach of section 1 of the 1972 Act.