{"id":1514,"date":"2025-05-15T09:15:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T09:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jbrollo.com\/?p=1514"},"modified":"2025-05-15T15:52:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T15:52:15","slug":"when-are-landowners-liable-for-their-tenants-waste-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jbrollo.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/15\/when-are-landowners-liable-for-their-tenants-waste-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"When are landowners liable for their tenants\u2019 waste crimes?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"environment-agency\"<\/h4>\n

When is a landowner liable for waste crimes committed by their tenant? Circular Online<\/em> spoke to environmental law experts about this complicated area of legislation.<\/h4>\n

A landowner who knowingly permits their tenant to commit a waste crime on their premises can be prosecuted by the Environment Agency.<\/p>\n

While this may seem clear cut, in the complex world of environmental and property law, what knowingly permitting means can be hard to pin down.<\/p>\n

Last year, Karen Bennett, a landowner in Essex, was found to have knowingly permitted her tenant to operate an illegal waste site.<\/p>\n

She was ordered to pay \u00a39,000 in fines and costs at Basildon Magistrates Court<\/a> after an investigation by the Environment Agency (EA).<\/p>\n

The tenant, Mark James, was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment<\/a> and told to pay a victim surcharge of \u00a3187.<\/p>\n

What could Bennett have done to avoid prosecution? How can a landowner avoid \u2018knowingly permitting\u2019 a tenant to commit waste crime on their premises?<\/p>\n

What does \u2018knowingly permit\u2019 actually mean?<\/h2>\n
\"waste
Waste piled at Bennett\u2019s Industrial Estate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Former CIWM President Dr Anna Willetts<\/a>, gunnercooke llp, and Tom Flavin, 25 Bedford Row, represented Bennett and told Circular Online<\/em> that while their client knew about her tenant\u2019s offending, she didn\u2019t permit him to do it.<\/p>\n

Bennett had several meetings with James where she told him to cease his activities and, Dr Willetts said, each time he was \u2018rude, abusive and threatening\u2019.<\/p>\n

Dr Willetts continued that her client made repeated attempts to remove James from her land and her failure was her lack of engagement with the Environment Agency.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the EA said Bennett was given a formal warning and received six sets of written advice and guidance from the regulator.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson continued: \u201cAt no stage did she report any threats or abuse from Mark James and she rejected opportunities to meet with the Environment Agency to give her side of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Willetts argues that while some landowners, like her client Karen Bennett, know about their tenant\u2019s illegal activity and are actively trying to stop them, they are still being prosecuted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legislation as worded is fine for landowners who do \u2018knowingly permit\u2019, such as those who are in cahoots with their tenants to blatantly operate illegal waste sites,\u201d Dr Willetts said.<\/p>\n

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The legislation as worded is fine for landowners who do \u2018knowingly permit\u2019, such as those who are in cahoots with their tenants to blatantly operate illegal waste sites.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhat is particularly irritating, and demonstrates a complete lack of consistency in the EA\u2019s approach on this point, is some landowners are treated as victims of the offence, rather than a suspect, asked to be witnesses for the prosecutions and the Agency has sought to obtain compensation for them via the prosecutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Willetts believes once a landowner reports a tenant to the EA, the regulator should be obligated to assist them.<\/p>\n

Angus Evers<\/a>, Partner at Shoosmiths, told Circular Online<\/em> there is \u2018no legal requirement\u2019 for landowners to report waste crimes committed by their tenants to the EA.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy past experience of trying to enlist the EA\u2019s help has, however, not been positive,\u201d Evers, co-convenor of the UK Environmental Law Association\u2019s ( UK ELA) Waste group, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is often a difficult judgement call to decide whether to try to get the EA involved in the hope or expectation, that they will use their enforcement powers against the tenant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have tended to regard it as the landowner\u2019s, rather than their, responsibility to deal with the tenant and when, as usually happens, the tenant disappears or goes insolvent the EA blames the landowner and threatens and\/or takes enforcement action against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

What should a landowner do if their tenant is using their site for waste crime?<\/h2>\n

\"Environment<\/p>\n

Chloe Meredith, a senior expertise lawyer in global law firm Ashurt\u2019s dispute resolution practice<\/a>, and Joanna Fox, a senior associate in the planning and environment practice, told Circular Online<\/em> if a landowner\u2019s tenant were committing a waste crime on their site, they would be advised to seek legal advice, given the potential \u2018criminal liability exposure\u2019.<\/p>\n

Meredith and Fox explained that the landowner may be able to forfeit (terminate) the lease if their tenant commits a waste crime, by exercising a contractual right to forfeit.<\/p>\n

However, they clarified that the landowner cannot forfeit the lease immediately upon becoming aware of the waste crime; there are several steps they must complete first.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Firstly, they say the forfeiture clause must be engaged and it is common for a forfeiture clause to allow the landowner to take steps towards termination if the tenant breaches any of the lease\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n

A tenant committing a waste crime is likely violating specific environmental covenants in the lease. Even if there are no specific environmental covenants, the tenant might still be breaching other covenants, such as:<\/p>\n