Types of statutory nuisance

A statutory nuisance is an activity that materially, and therefore significantly, interferes with a person’s lawful rights to the enjoyment of their home, or something that will give rise to disease or be harmful to health. It's much more than just an annoyance or being aware of something.

Types of statutory nuisance include:

• smoke, fumes or gases from premises, a vehicle, machinery or equipment in the street and bonfires
• odour and dust from industrial, trade or business premises
• noise from premises, or from a vehicle, machinery or equipment in the street
• light from badly adjusted security lights or floodlights
• insects from any industrial, trade or business premises
• any premises in such a state it's harmful to health or a nuisance
• the accumulation of anything that could cause a nuisance or present a health risk for humans, such as rotting food which attracts rats or mice

Statutory nuisances tend to be property based issues. An issue while you were walking on a public footpath or were a visitor somewhere could not be a statutory nuisance to you.

Issues unlikely to be covered by statutory nuisance law include:

• aircraft noise
• normal noise from roads or railways
• footsteps or television noise from a neighbouring property where the problem is due to poor sound insulation
• odour from domestic kitchens
• neighbours arguing
• children playing or babies crying
• a 'one-off' party
• the occasional bonfire

In such cases, while we may not be able to take formal action we may be able to give you advice or suggest your best course of action. It's possible for a private individual to take civil action for damages if their quality of life is badly affected.

If you're experiencing what you think is a statutory nuisance, see what action you could take and how we can investigate the problem. You can also contact us for advice using the details at the bottom of this page.

How we determine a statutory nuisance

A statutory nuisance is determined by one of our officers, not the person who has complained.

Neighbours living in close proximity are always likely to be aware of each other’s activities, for example it's not reasonable to expect a silent environment. Our officers judge nuisance from the viewpoint of the average person’s sensitivity and we can make no allowance for people on shift work, who are studying or unwell, or those with particular needs, such as sensitive hearing.

Case law requires that the nuisance must come from the unreasonable behaviour or conduct of the person responsible. The law does not specify levels or set time limits but requires an objective judgement to be made by us based upon factors such as:

• the time of day or night
• how long it lasts
• how often it happens
• if it's socially acceptable, for example fireworks on bonfire night, or church bells ringing
• the nature of the surrounding environment

Contact us

Contact the environmental team for your local area.