Quiet enjoyment: are landlords liable for the actions of incorporated owners?

In Chung Lap Fu v Hydra Shipping Services Ltd ([2009] 4 HKC 445, DC) P granted a lease of a flat and parking space to D1. D2 and D3 guaranteed performance by D1 of the tenant’s covenants in the lease. The owner of another flat in the building carried out decoration works that lasted several weeks. This gave rise to noisy drilling works, blocked lifts and other problems. D1 purported to terminate the tenancy on the basis that these problems amounted to a breach of the express covenant for quiet enjoyment in the lease. The landlord covenanted that D1’s possession would be ‘without any interruption by the Landlord or any person lawfully claiming under or in trust for him.’ The argument that there had been a breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment failed. Neither the owner of the other flat nor the incorporated owners claimed under or in trust for the landlord. Nor had P authorised the works ([40]).

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