Can I actually face a £50,000 superb for fly-tipping on frequent land? DEAN DUNHAM replies

A sign on common land near me says: ‘No fly-tipping. 

Maximum fine £50,000.’ It’s an area where I’ve seen it happen but I’m curious as to whether an individual throwing out an old mattress could really be fined that amount?

R.G., south-west London.

Criminal: But can someobody really be fined tens of thousands of pounds for fly-tipping?

Dean Dunham replies: In reality, the answer is no, as the fine would obviously be disproportionate. However, that does not mean a fly-tipper could simply get away with what is actually an illegal action.

There are a number of avenues the landowner could go down. Firstly, the landowner could report the incident to the local authority and the police, which could result in criminal action being taken and a fine being levied by the council. 

This, though, would be more likely where the fly-tipping took place on ‘public’ land.

However, the downside to this approach is that it could backfire on the landowner. This is because fly-tipping is the only crime where the victims (private landowners) have a legal responsibility to dispose of the waste and the law says that landowners can be prosecuted if they fail to do this.

The other route a landowner can pursue is to take the fly-tipper to court (if they can identify them) and claim compensation for the cost of disposing of the waste. 

This of course would not be £50,000 in the scenario you have described, but would mean the landowner was not out of pocket.

That said, the most effective remedy for a landowner, who has either been on the receiving end of fly-tippers or believes they are about to be, is to apply to the court for an injunction. This is a court order requiring someone to stop doing something or not do it in the first place – in this case fly-tipping. 

This involves an application to the courts, which is brought against ‘persons unknown’. This means that the landowner does not have to know the name or names of the person(s) doing the fly-tipping and this is acceptable to the courts.

Once an order for an injunction is made, it can be prominently displayed on the site to let the would-be fly-tippers know that there is a court injunction in place. 

Anyone breaching the order may be committing a contempt of court which leads to fines, seizure of assets (for example vehicles) and possibly imprisonment. This, therefore, serves as a significant deterrent.

How can I deal with my nightmare neighbours?  

The cottage next door has nuisance tenants. I’ve contacted the letting agent but it says the landlord is hard to get hold of and pretty much shrugs its shoulders. What are my rights?

C. J., via email.

Dean Dunham replies: Firstly, I want to dispel the myth that landlords are responsible for their noisy tenants – in most circumstances, this is simply not true. 

This position has been confirmed by the Court of Appeal in a case called Mowan v Wandsworth LBC. The only exception would be where the landlord actually authorised the noise or nuisance, which in most cases will be unlikely.

When you have tenant neighbours being a nuisance, the first step is to approach the landlord/owner of the property or their managing agent as you have done. 

The landlord or their agent is therefore in a unique position to demand that the tenant behaves, and threaten eviction. In this respect, under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, excessive noise and other nuisances can be grounds for eviction of a tenant.

If neither your neighbours nor their landlords are willing to help, your next step is to keep a diary for a few weeks, recording the precise dates and times when your neighbours cause a nuisance and, armed with this, make an approach to your local council and complain that your neighbour is causing a ‘statutory nuisance’.

A statutory nuisance is any activity that is unreasonable or excessive and causes substantial interference with the enjoyment of your home, recurring on a regular basis (daily or at least three or four times a week). By law, local councils must investigate complaints of statutory nuisances.

If your local council decides that a statutory nuisance is occurring, it can take action to stop this and issue fines (typically up to £5,000) if your neighbours persist.