Citation
(1998), "Unlawful eviction: damages", Property Management, Vol. 16 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.1998.11316cab.029
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited
Unlawful eviction: damages
Unlawful eviction: damages
King v. Jackson [1998] 03 EG 138
Readers will doubtless be aware of the "alternative" statutory means of assessing damages for unlawful eviction prescribed by s.28(1) of the Housing Act 1988: the difference between the tenanted value and the vacant possession value of the premises in question.
In this case the landlord had granted the tenant an assured shorthold tenancy, but the tenant had fallen behind with her rent. The landlord wrote to the tenant stating that in consequence she should leave the flat that day. So far as appears from the law report, it would appear that the tenant responded by agreeing on 16 April 1994 to leave in four weeks' time, i.e. on 14 May 1994. On 6 May the tenant was unlawfully evicted, and the premises bolted against her. She subsequently gained temporary access in order to retrieve her possessions. The question then arose as to how damages should be calculated for the unlawful eviction. The estimated value of the premises with vacant possession was £55,000; the value subject to a tenancy of assumed indefinite duration was estimated at £44,000. The tenant, however, had already agreed to surrender her tenancy at an early date. The judge at first instance had awarded statutory damages of £11,000, with damages for breach of the landlord's covenant for quiet enjoyment assessed in the alternative at £1,500. The Court of Appeal, in all the circumstances, felt that the lower figure was sufficient to do "substantial justice" between the parties.