Chapter 15Business property2 Liability to persons on adjoining premises. An
occupier has a duty not to injure persons on adjoining
premises by allowing a harmful situation to develop on
the land.429
Hollingv Yorkshire Traction Co Ltd
(1948)
Steam and smoke from the Traction Company’s factory
went across a road next to it and made it difficult to see.
As a result, two vehicles collided and this caused the
death of Holling. The court said that the Traction Com-
pany was liable. It was negligent of the company not to
post a man at each end of the affected area to warn of
the danger.Taylorv Liverpool Corporation(1939)The claimant was the daughter of the tenant of some
flats owned by the Corporation. She was injured when a
chimney stack from adjoining premises, also owned by
the Corporation, fell into a yard. The Corporation had
been negligent in that it had not maintained the chimney
properly. The Corporation was liable in negligence and
the claimant won her case.Duties to persons on the premises
Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 an occupier of
premises must take reasonable care to see that a visitor
to his premises will be reasonably safe in using the
premises for the purposes for which he is invited or per-
mitted by the occupier to be on them.
The House of Lords has ruled that there is no duty to
warn people of obvious dangers or to protect them from
their own foolish acts.Tomlinsonv Congleton BC (2003)The claimant was an 18-year-old who on a hot bank
holiday and while in a country park owned and occupied
by the defendant waded into a lake to cool off and when
only up to his knees in water executed a dive and struck
his head on the uneven bottom of the lake. He broke his
neck and became tetraplegic. He claimed damages from
the defendant council for what he alleged was a breach
of duty by it under the 1957 Act. There were warning
notices prohibiting swimming in the lake but, as theTermination of commonhold
A commonhold arrangement is brought to an end by
winding-up the commonhold association. Since the units
are not owned by the association, they are not available
to pay its debts. However, the court may make what is
called a ‘succession order’ under which a new common-
hold association is substituted, the members being those
who have met their liabilities to the full. This has been
called a ‘Phoenix association’ that takes over the man-
agement so that the unit-holders can continue to hold
and enjoy their properties. If no succession order is
made, the commonhold arrangement ceases to exist and
the properties will be dealt with in accordance with the
directions of the liquidator.
Joint owners
A commonhold unit can be held by joint owners.
The rights and duties of an
occupier of landThe main right of an occupier of land is to seek an
injunction against persons who trespass on his land or,
alternatively, sue the trespasser for damages. These mat-
ters were considered in Chapter 11. However, in
addition to the general rules which apply to trespass to
land, there are aspects specific to occupiers of land which
are considered below. In addition, the question of the
liability of occupiers of land and premises to persons
suffering injury arising from that occupation may be
regarded as an aspect of negligence (which has also been
considered in general terms in Chapter 11 ). How-
ever, specific aspects of liability applying to occupiers
and arising from legislation are covered in the material
which follows.
Duties to those who are not on
the premises
We must look separately at liability to persons on the
road (or highway), if any, which is next to the premises.
We must also consider liability to persons on premises
which are next to the property.
1 Liability to persons on the highway.The occupier
has a duty not to injure persons on the highway by
allowing a harmful situation to develop on his land.