Section 80 Environmental Protection Act 1990: abatement notices and appeals
Section 80 EPA 1990: once satisfied a statutory nuisance exists the council must serve an abatement notice. Who it is served on, the 21-day appeal, and the offence.
Official text
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EPA 1990 s. 80 — United Kingdom
Subject to subsection (2A) where a local authority is satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists, or is likely to occur or recur, in the area of the authority, the local authority shall serve a notice (“an abatement notice”) imposing all or any of the following requirements— requiring the abatement of the nuisance or prohibiting or restricting its occurrence or recurrence; requiring the execution of such works, and the taking of such other steps, as may be necessary for any of those purposes, and the notice shall specify the time or times within which the requirements of the notice are to be complied with. Subject to section 80A(1) below, the abatement notice shall be served— except in a case falling within paragraph (b) or (c) below, on the person responsible for the nuisance; where the nuisance arises from any defect of a structural character, on the owner of the premises; where the person responsible for the nuisance cannot be found or the nuisance has not yet occurred, on the owner or occupier of the premises. Where a local authority is satisfied that a statutory nuisance falling within paragraph (g) of section 79(1) above exists, or is likely to occur or recur, in the area of the authority, the authority shall— serve an abatement notice in respect of the nuisance in accordance with subsections (1) and (2) above; or take such other steps as it thinks appropriate for the purpose of persuading the appropriate person to abate the nuisance or prohibit or restrict its occurrence or recurrence. If a local authority has taken steps under subsection (2A)(b) above and either of the conditions in subsection (2C) below is satisfied, the authority shall serve an abatement notice in respect of the nuisance. The conditions are— that the authority is satisfied at any time before the end of the relevant period that the steps taken will not be successful in persuading the appropriate person to abate the nuisance or prohibit or restrict its occurrence or recurrence; that the authority is satisfied at the end of the relevant period that the nuisance continues to exist, or continues to be likely to occur or recur, in the area of the authority. The relevant period is the period of seven days starting with the day on which the authority was first satisfied that the nuisance existed, or was likely to occur or recur. The appropriate person is the person on whom the authority would otherwise be required under subsection (2A)(a) above to serve an abatement notice in respect of the nuisance. A person served with an abatement notice may appeal against the notice to a magistrates’ court or in Scotland, the sheriff within the period of twenty-one days beginning with the date on which he was served with the notice. If a person on whom an abatement notice is served, without reasonable excuse, contravenes or fails to comply with any requirement or prohibition imposed by the notice, he shall be guilty of an offence. Except in a case falling within subsection (6) below, a person who commits an offence under subsection (4) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale together with a further fine of an amount equal to one-tenth of the greater of £5,000 or level 4 on the standard scale for each day on which the offence continues after the conviction. A person who commits an offence under subsection (4) above on industrial, trade or business premises shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine . Subject to subsection (8) below, in any proceedings for an offence under subsection (4) above in respect of a statutory nuisance it shall be a defence to prove that the best practicable means were used to prevent, or to counteract the effects of, the nuisance. The defence under subsection (7) above is not available— in the case of a nuisance falling within paragraph (a), (d), (e), (f) , (fa) or (g) of section 79(1) above except where the nuisance arises on industrial, trade or business premises; in the case of a nuisance falling within paragraph (fb) of section 79(1) above except where— the artificial light is emitted from industrial, trade or business premises, or the artificial light (not being light to which sub-paragraph (i) applies) is emitted by lights used for the purpose only of illuminating an outdoor relevant sports facility; in the case of a nuisance falling within paragraph (ga) of section 79(1) above except where the noise is emitted from or caused by a vehicle, machinery or equipment being used for industrial, trade or business purposes; in the case of a nuisance falling within paragraph (b) of section 79(1) above except where the smoke is emitted from a chimney; and in the case of a nuisance falling within paragraph (c) or (h) of section 79(1) above. For the purposes of subsection (8)(aza) a relevant sports facility is an area, with or without structures, that is used when participating in a relevant sport, but does not include such an area comprised in domestic premises. For the purposes of subsection (8A) “ relevant sport ” means a sport that is designated for those purposes by order made by the Secretary of State, in relation to England, or the National Assembly for Wales, in relation to Wales. A sport may be so designated by reference to its appearing in a list maintained by a body specified in the order. In subsection (8A) “ domestic premises ” means— premises used wholly or mainly as a private dwelling, or land or other premises belonging to, or enjoyed with, premises so used. In proceedings for an offence under subsection (4) above in respect of a statutory nuisance falling within paragraph (g) or (ga) of section 79(1) above where the offence consists in contravening requirements imposed by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above it shall be a defence to prove— that the alleged offence was covered by a notice served under section 60 or a consent given under section 61 or 65 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (construction sites, etc); or where the alleged offence was committed at a time when the premises were subject to a notice under section 66 of that Act (noise reduction notice), that the level of noise emitted from the premises at that time was not such as to a constitute a contravention of the notice under that section; or where the alleged offence was committed at a time when the premises were not subject to a notice under section 66 of that Act, and when a level fixed under section 67 of that Act (new buildings liable to abatement order) applied to the premises, that the level of noise emitted from the premises at that time did not exceed that level. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (9) above apply whether or not the relevant notice was subject to appeal at the time when the offence was alleged to have been committed.
Section 80 turns a finding of statutory nuisance into an instrument. Where the local authority is satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists, or is likely to occur or recur, it "shall" serve an abatement notice - the word is mandatory, not permissive. The notice can require the nuisance to be abated, prohibit or restrict its recurrence, and require works or other steps, and it must specify the time within which its requirements are to be met. There is one carve-out: for noise from premises under section 79(1)(g), subsection (2A) lets the authority first try for seven days to persuade the person responsible, after which the duty to serve a notice returns.
Subsection (2) decides who receives it, and that is where liability often lands somewhere unexpected. The notice goes on the person responsible for the nuisance; but where the nuisance "arises from any defect of a structural character" it goes on the owner of the premises, and where the person responsible cannot be found, or the nuisance has not yet occurred, it goes on the owner or occupier. So a landlord can be served for something a tenant does to the building, and a freeholder for a defect in the fabric.
The person served has twenty-one days from service to appeal to the magistrates' court. After that, contravening or failing to comply with the notice without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence under subsection (4), with a daily further fine while it continues after conviction and, on industrial, trade or business premises, an unlimited fine. Subsection (7) gives a defence of best practicable means, but subsection (8) withdraws it for most domestic sources: for premises in a prejudicial state, accumulations, animals, insects and noise from premises, best practicable means is only available where the nuisance arises on industrial, trade or business premises.
When it applies
The council has been out, agreed the noise is a nuisance, and served the neighbour with an abatement notice.
You have been served with an abatement notice yourself and have three weeks to decide whether to appeal.
A landlord is served for damp or a defect in the structure that the tenant could not have caused.
A pub, gym or workshop is served over plant noise and wants to argue it already uses best practicable means.
An abatement notice was served months ago, the noise has come back, and nothing has happened since.
What this section does not say
×It is not a compensation route. An abatement notice stops the nuisance and a breach is punished by fine; it awards the neighbour nothing.
×It does not let you serve the notice. Only the local authority serves an abatement notice; the equivalent step for an individual is a complaint to the magistrates' court under section 82.
×It does not give the council a discretion once it is satisfied a nuisance exists. Subject to the seven-day noise route in subsection (2A), the duty to serve is expressed as "shall".
×"Best practicable means" is not a general excuse. Subsection (8) shuts the defence out entirely for most nuisances that do not arise on industrial, trade or business premises.
×The twenty-one days is not a time limit for complaining about a nuisance. It is the window for the person served to appeal against the notice.
Worked examples
Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.
Illustrative example
A council has served an abatement notice on the tenant of a ground-floor flat over late-night music. Four months on the music is unchanged, the council says the case is not a priority, and the neighbour upstairs wants to know what the notice was actually for.
How the wording applies
The notice is an instrument, not an outcome: once it is served, contravening it without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence under subsection (4), and prosecution is the council's decision. The fact the neighbour's position turns on is that section 80 gives them nothing directly - no compensation, and no power to enforce the notice themselves. That is why the honest next step is usually section 82 rather than more diary sheets.
How the parties settled it
The neighbour and the tenant agree a written quiet period after eleven at night with a named contact for immediate problems, and the neighbour agrees to hold off on any court step for three months while it is tried.
Illustrative example
A landlord has been served with an abatement notice about damp and mould in a let flat and is furious, saying the tenants cause it by drying washing indoors and that the notice should have gone to them.
How the wording applies
Subsection (2) decides who receives the notice, and it does not always follow who is causing the problem day to day: where the nuisance arises from a defect of a structural character it goes on the owner. The fact everything turns on is whether the damp arises from the fabric of the building - failed pointing, a cold bridge, absent ventilation - or from how the flat is used, and that is a question for evidence rather than assertion. The twenty-one days in the section is the window to appeal the notice, not a deadline to finish the work.
How the parties settled it
The landlord commissions an independent damp survey within three weeks and does whatever it attributes to the building; the tenants agree to use the extractor fans and trickle vents and to keep a humidity log until the works are done.
Illustrative example
A small gym in a converted unit runs air-conditioning plant on the wall of the flats next door. An abatement notice has arrived and the owner says the plant is the quietest model available and was installed to specification.
How the wording applies
Subsection (7) gives a best practicable means defence, and subsection (8) decides whether it is available at all. The fact that matters here is that the plant is on trade or business premises, which is precisely the situation the defence is kept for - it would not be open to a householder complained of for the same noise. Whether the means actually used are the best practicable ones is then about maintenance, hours and mountings, not about the model number.
How the parties settled it
The gym fits anti-vibration mounts and an acoustic housing within six weeks and stops the plant between eleven at night and seven in the morning; the neighbours agree to withdraw their objection if measured levels come down to the figure the acoustic report sets out.
The same problem elsewhere
The other legal systems in this collection answer the same everyday problem with their own provisions.
The comparison and these one-line summaries are in English.
Noise from the neighbours: what the law says in seven countries
Say what is happening. A neutral mediator hears your side and the other party's, and walks you both to a written agreement. In the advanced settings you can ask for the decision to be reasoned on the Acts of Parliament that apply in England and Wales.
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This page reproduces the text of EPA 1990 s. 80 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in England and Wales.