TREE ROOTS AND AIRCRAFT STRESS: TWO APPEALS TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS

Two important decisions of the Court of Appeal (both noted in previous issues of Building Law Monthly) have been considered by the House of Lords over the past month. The following gives advance notice of those decisions, which will receive more extensive coverage over the next few months.

Nuisance by tree roots

Delaware Mansions Ltd and others v Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of Westminster (2001) unreported, 25 October, HL

In Delaware Mansions Ltd and others v Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of Westminster (2001) unreported, 25 October, HL, the House upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal (discussed in our November 1999 issue, pp.7–9) that Westminster’s nuisance was actionable. The case concerned the liability of a local authority in nuisance for damage to real property caused by encroaching tree roots, the authority having planted the trees.