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24 February 2023 / Andrew Francis
Issue: 8014 / Categories: Features , Property , Public
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Fearn v Tate Gallery Trustees: the nuisance next door

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Andrew Francis takes a good look at Fearn v Tate Gallery Trustees: what lessons can property practitioners learn from the Supreme Court’s judgment?
  • The Supreme Court’s majority judgment in Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery held the Tate liable in nuisance to the owners of flats who claimed visual intrusion by those visiting the Tate’s public viewing platform.
  • This decision opens the way to consideration of the relationship between private nuisance and property law rights and obligations.

‘On the facts found by the judge, this is a straightforward case of nuisance’ (per Lord Leggatt, at para [7] in Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery [2023] UKSC 4, [2023] All ER (D) 02 (Feb) (‘Fearn’)).

That simple statement is as good an introduction to the judgments in Fearn as one is likely to get. It forms a useful entry to the 133 paragraphs of the majority judgment and the 150 paragraphs of the

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