THE PALACE OF JUSTICE CIVIL APPEAL NO. P-02-2074-2011 ...

easonable care and any consideration of public policy that might
negate the imposing of any duty of care.
The above retreat from Lord Wilberforce’s approach in Anns v
Merton culminated in Murphy v Brentwood District Council [1991]
AC 398 in which the House of Lords overruled Anns v Merton. This
case concerned a local authority’s approval of the plans for the
construction of a house. The local authority had relied on the advice
of a consulting engineer which had not properly taken into account
miscalculations in the design of the foundations. As a result of the
defective foundations there was extensive damage to the walls and
pipe work of the house. The plaintiff/owner of the property did not
carry out repairs, but sold the property at an undervaluation. The
purchaser moved into the house and did not carry out repairs. The
plaintiff’s claim was for pure economic loss, the claim being the
difference between the market value and the value that the house
fetched when sold. The House of Lords held that Donoghue v
Stevenson applied to impose on the builder of a property a duty to
exercise reasonable care and skill to avoid injury or damage through
defects in its construction to those whom he might reasonably
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