The covenant for quiet enjoyment: no damages for injured feelings

• Author: Gilbert Kodilinye
• Position: Senior Lecturer in Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados
• Pages: 130-134

THE COVENANT FOR QUIET ENJOYMENT:

NO DAMAGES FOR INJURED FEELINGS

Branchett v. Beaney

[1992] 3 All E.R. 910

GILBERT KODILINYE*

In every lease, in the absence of an express covenant relating to the

matter, there is implied a covenant on the part of the lessor that the

lessee shall have quiet enjoyment of the demised premises during the

continuance of the lease, and the lessee is entitled to recover damages

if his enjoyment of the premises is substantially disturbed by the acts

of the lessor or of some person claiming under him. Actions for

damages for breach of this covenant have been brought before the

courts in Jamaica,1 Guyana,2 the Bahamas3 and Trinidad and

Tobago.4 Lawyers in the Commonwealth Caribbean will thus be

interested in dicta of Balcombe L.J. in Branchett v. Beaney,5 in the

English Court of Appeal, to the effect that no compensation for injured

feelings and mental distress can be given as damages for breach of the

covenant for quiet enjoyment.

In Branchett, the lessor had ordered workmen to enter the demised

premises with a bulldozer in order to construct an access way across

the property to an adjacent site where a new building was being

erected. The trial judge awarded the lessee exemplary damages for

trespass, but he refused to award damages for breach of the covenant

for quiet enjoyment under the claimed heads of frustration, mental

Senior Lecturer in Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill,

Barbados.

1 Tapper v. Myrie (1968) 11 J.L.R. 102. Section 27 of the Rent Restriction

Act (Jamaica) provides a penalty for any act by a landlord which is

'calculated to interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the premises by the

tenant'.

2 Ferreira v. Fernandes [1947] L.R.B.G. 73; Saul

v.

Small [1963] L.R.B.G.

299;

Ali v. Enmore Estates Ltd. (1971) High Court, no.3619 of 1969

(unreported).

3 Wells v. Bayparl Ltd. (1991) Supreme Court,

no.

1058

of 1983

(unreported).

4 Ram v. Ramkissoon (1968) 13 W.I.R. 332; Green v. Thomas (1977) High

Court, no.301 of 1972 (unreported).

5 [1992] 3 All E.R. 910 at 915-918.