Nuisance smells

Councils must look into complaints about smells from industrial, trade and business premises that could be a ‘statutory nuisance’ (covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990). For a smell to be considered as a nuisance smell andc ount as a statutory nuisance it must do one of the following:

• "unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises
• injure health or be likely to injure health"

If a council agrees that a statutory nuisance is happening, has happened or will happen in the future, it must serve an abatement notice. This requires whoever’s responsible to stop or restrict the smell. The notice will usually be served on the person responsible but can also be served on the owner or occupier of the premises.

Whilst there are many possible sources of what might be considered as nuisance smells or odours in the home, Statutory nuisance laws do not apply to smells from residential properties. Nuisance smells can be caused by problems with:

• agricultural practices like spreading slurry or sludge onto land
• sewage handling facilities (including sewage treatment works, sewage pumping stations, sludge treatment centres, and storm water storage tanks)
• food processors and commercial kitchens (for example, if the extraction system is poor)
• animals, livestock and poultry
• slaughter houses, abattoirs and animal by-product rendering plants like pet food factories
• paints and solvents from garages or workshops (for example, if vents are poorly positioned)
• unplanned spills (for example, from vehicle accidents)
• Smells can escape from buildings by:
• emissions from a stack or extractor
• leaks from the building structure (for example, around poorly sealed doors)

To assess a smell and work out whether it is a statutory nuisance, councils can consider one or more of the following:

• where the smell is coming from
• the character of the area
• the number of people affected nearby
• if the smell interferes with the quality of life of people nearby (for example, if they avoid using their gardens)
• how often the smell is present
• the characteristics of the smell

Assessing smells can be difficult because people respond differently to them. Councils usually use at least 2 human ‘sniffers’ to work out:

• the strength of the smell
• how often it’s detectable and for how long
• when it’s recognisable
• its offensiveness
• its character (using descriptions like ‘fruity’ or ‘fishy’)
• the emission rate
• Wind direction and weather conditions should be taken into account as this can cause variations in smells.

Councils can also ask people to keep smell diaries, recording their perception of the smell and the effect it has on them. If an abatement notice for smells is served on industrial, trade or business premises and they’ve used the best practicable means to stop or reduce the smell, they may be able to use this as one of the following:

• grounds for appeal against the abatement notice
• a defence, if prosecuted for not complying with the abatement notice

For further information and assistance see government guidance "Nuisance smells: how councils deal with complaints"

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