Supreme Court to decide on Tate Gallery nuisance case

The Court of Appeal decision in the case of Fearn and Others v Board of Trustees of The Tate Gallery [2020] EWCA Civ 104 has been appealed to the Supreme Court.

Facts of the case

This case relates to a viewing platform which was constructed at The Tate Gallery. It overlooks a nearby residential block of flats which is constructed mainly of glass. The viewing platform is open to the general public when the Gallery is open. The Court of Appeal held that overlooking from one property to another is not capable of giving rise to a cause of action in nuisance. Read more on this here.This decision was relied upon in a First Instance Decision in the Oxford County Court Fairhurst v Woodard – for more information on this case click here.

Supreme Court

The claimant in Fearn and Others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery have appealed to the Supreme Court and the case is due to be heard on 7-8th December 2021.

The decision of the Supreme Court in December will have major implications for all nuisance claims and will also be highly relevant to neighbour issues concerning CCTV and surveillance systems.

More information

For more information on this or any property litigation matter please contact our Property Litigation Team here.

This article was written by Stephen Eccles, Partner in the Residential Property Litigation Team at Pinney Talfourd LLP Solicitors. The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. Specific legal advice should be taken on each individual matter. This article is based on the law as of November 2021.