In Dodd v Raebarn Estates Ltd ([2017] EWCA Civ 439, CA (Eng)) Mr D was staying in a friend’s first floor flat. He died after falling while walking down the staircase leading from the flat to the ground floor.
Raebarn owned the freehold of the building. Part of the building was sub-let to an intermediate landlord which had granted further sub-leases of individual flats. The intermediate landlord had, with Raebarn’s consent, altered the building. It removed two existing staircases and replaced them with a new staircase.
The staircase as built did not conform to the plans approved by the local authority in that it seemed likely that the new staircase never had a handrail.
Mrs D brought proceedings against Raebarn under section 4(4) of the Defective Premises Act 1972. Under section 4(4) Raebarn could only be liable if the fact that the new staircase had no handrail amounted to a failure to maintain or repair the property. The question, then, was whether the lack of a handrail amounted to disrepair.
Lewison LJ gave the main judgment with which the other members of the Court of Appeal agreed. The obligation to repair only arises when the demised premises are out of repair ([16]). The duty to repair is not a duty to make safe ([17]). Where, however, there is a need to repair, the work must be carried out in accordance with any applicable regulations and in accordance with standards of good practice at the time that the work is carried out ([25]).
Mrs D’s argument was that the removal of the original staircases was a deterioration in the property giving rise to a need to repair them. The repair works had to be carried out to the requisite standard. The missing handrail meant that they did not satisfy this standard. There had therefore been a failure to maintain and repair the property so that Raebarn was liable under s. 4(4).
This argument failed. The work on the staircases did not give rise to a lack of repair since the head-lease contemplated that such work might be carried out with Raebarn’s consent.
Once the new staircase had been installed, the repairing covenant applied to the staircase as altered. Had it deteriorated? It had not if there had never been a handrail.
Even if the altered staircase had once had a handrail which had been removed, it did not necessarily follow that the staircase was in disrepair. If there was no disrepair, the duty to carry out repairing works to the requisite standard never arose.
Michael Lower
