18 March 2016
Lafferty v Newark & Sherwood District Council [2016] EWHC 320 (QB), [2016] All ER (D) 60 (Mar)
The Queen’s Bench Division, in dismissing the claimant’s appeal against the dismissal of her claim against the defendant for damages under s 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, held that the purpose of s 4(4) of the Act was not to create a strict liability, but to extend the application of s 4(1) of the Act to relevant defects which were outwith its scope and, therefore, to bring them within the scope of the section as a whole. Its purpose was not to confer an additional or alternative route to recovery where the claim under s 4(1) failed on its facts because s 4(2) was unsatisfied.
