Neighbours, What a Nuisance!

It is not unlikely to suggest that at some point in your life, you might have referred to your neighbours as a nuisance, but did you know, there may be remedies available in Civil Law for the nuisance your neighbour is causing? To find out more, read on.

What defines Nuisance?

Firstly, it is important to outline there are two different categories of nuisance, public and private. When considering the issues with neighbours, it is private nuisance that is most relevant. A private nuisance is usually caused by someone doing something on their land, but where the consequences of such actions cause damage to another property or party.

Court Considerations

When a nuisance case is brought before the Court, a balancing exercise is undertaken. The factors in each case will be considered, such factors include:

• Frequency of nuisance;

• Duration of nuisance;

• Time of nuisance;

• Reasonableness of the actions alleged to be nuisance.

It is important to bear in mind that if someone has planning permission for an activity, this is not a defence to causing nuisance. Further, in the interests of objectiveness, the Court will consider the impact of the actions on a reasonable person.

The Remedies

Similarly, to harassment, one option to consider is to seek an injunction against the party causing you nuisance. An injunction is a Court Order that either prevents or obligates someone doing something and can be a very useful tool in bringing any issues to an end. As well as this, should your property have suffered damage, you may also seek to recover any monetary losses from replacing/repairing the area in question.

Link to Harassment

The actions undertaken by a neighbour may be considered as harassment as well as nuisance. More information about harassment can be found here. In our experience, harassment and nuisance can often be interlinked.

See our companion article on Harassment here.

If you are looking for advice on nuisance and how you could resolve your situation, please do not hesitate to contact our Dispute Resolution Team here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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