Housing and Land Use

Abstract

Public authorities are substantial landowners. They use land for a wide variety of purposes intended to benefit the public, for example: for the provision of amenities such as parks and swimming pools, for drainage and sewage facilities, for commercial or residential leasing, for transportation by air, rail, or road. In large part, the liability of public authorities will be governed by the same rules as are applicable to private landowners. Like other landowners, public authorities can be held liable for nuisance if their use of land interferes with neighbours’ enjoyment of their land, if they are the occupiers of premises that are not maintained to a reasonable standard of safety, or if as landlords they breach tenancy agreements. In many cases, the fact that a landowner is a public authority will have little or no bearing on a determination of its liabilities, and such cases are not considered in any detail in this chapter.