The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-12-14 00:00:00

'TENANTABLE REPAIR."

The muse of Harbottle e Poole)," has bee. tried in the
Court of Queen's Bench, in London, and was an action by
• landlord against an outgoing tenant tor alleged breach of
his undertaking to keep the premises in tenantable repair.
The plaintiff ii lessee of a large old house at Clap'
ham, under a covenant to keep it in good repair. He
let it to the defendant for three years at • rent of
£2OO, under an agreement to keep it in tenantable re-
pair. The house was at leant 200 years old, and in
such a state as to require continual repair. The de
-
'cadent swore that he himself had laid out nearly
000 upon it during his brief occupancy, and still it
was far from being in a complete state of repair. In
fact, he said, it required mob frequent repairs that "it
would be cheaper to pull it down and rebuild it."
Still, as it wee large awl spacious, and he had spent
already so much money upon it, be was willing on fair
terms to take it for a lease renewable for seven, four-
teen, or twenty-ono years, and he accordingly made
such • proposal to his landlord, the first lessee,
offering to lay out £l,OOO upon alterations and
repairs, and assuring him that the house would
require a new roof, and that the outbuildings
were in • state of dilapidation. This was in
October, 1871, but for some reason or other the
parties could not come to terms, and the tenant, the
defendant, left the house, taking with him his fix-
tures, which the landlord refused to purchase. In
taking down these fixtures some small holes were made
in the walls, especially of the drawing-room, which it
was mid would require, in consequence, to be repripered.
The chief landlord was dissatisfied with the state of the
house, and he had • survey made of the repairs which
would be required under the respective liabilities of
his lessee (the plaintiff) and his tenant (tbedefendruit).
Such a survey was accordingly made, and according to
the valuations it would require £B2 to put the house
into tenantable repair, and L'2so to put it into " good "
repair. The instructions given by the chief land-
lord to his surveyor were these :—" I want yen"
(he wrote) "to make such a spesifiestion as I can
enforce against Harbettle, and he can then seek to
enforce against Pooley." However, the amounts
of the two valuations under these very different
liabilities differed, as above stated, and in the present
action the defendant's landlord, the lessee, snly sought
to recover the sum of £B2 for the liability to leave in
tenantable repair, and the question was whether or
not the premises bad been left by the defendant in
tenantable repair, and if not, then to what extent and
amount they were not in such repair, or, in other
words, what it would cost to put them in such
repair. This, it will be shown, was very much a
question of items and figures—very difficult for a jury
to try upon evidence of surveyors and other wit-
nesses one way and the other; and, therefore, the
learned Judge suggested a reference to arbitra-
tion, but without effect. Yet it was obvious as the
case proceeded that it might have been settled in an
hour if, when the dispute first began, a surveyor agreed
upon by both parties or appointed by the Court, had
gone over the premises and judicially determined the
question. In the course of the trial the plaintiff gave
up an item of £l4 for repairing the drawing-room, as
this was admitted to be rather in the nature of orna-
mental repairs, and tenantable repairs meant only such
as were really necessary. This reduced the claim to
£OB, and out of this £7 16e. had been paid into court.
In the result, after a long trial—which might just
as well have been held in the County Court—
The learned Judge put the case to the jury thus
Was the house when given up by the defendant in a
state of "tenantable repair?" It does not matter,
upon that lame, said the learned Judge, in what state
the house was in when the defendant took it. If it
was wit then in tenantable repair, it was his fault ; for
he agreed to keep it and give it up in a state of tenant-
able repair. Therefore, if it was not in such a state of
repair when he took it be was bound to put it in such
repair. It is, however, important to bear in mind that
it was a very old home, and a state of tenantable re-
pair must have come reference to the age and general
character of the house. Such a house, under such an
agreement as the present, must be left in a state of
tenantable or substantial repair, having refereroo to de
charscter as an old house.
The jury returned a verdict for the defendant