Landlord´s Duty Of Care

An owner of leased premises has a legal obligation to ensure that the property leased out by them is safe.

The primary duty of the Landlord in these circumstances will be normally limited to:

• defects that existed at the time the tenancy commenced or was renewed.

• defects of which the Landlord knew or ought to have known that arose during the term of the tenancy.

In the High Court decision of Northern Sandblasting v Harris, the Court held that the Landlord in the particular case was under a general duty of care to its Tenant to provide safe premises at the commencement of the tenancy.

The Tenant had requested the Landlord to attend to the repair of some faulty electrical wiring at the premises.