Grinch law could see you fined up to £5k for hanging Xmas lights on your house

DECEMBER is here and that means many households across the UK are beginning to put up their Christmas decorations.

But before you go climbing ladders and organising lights on the exterior of your home, make sure you read up on this little-known law.

Homeowners getting into the festive spirit could face up to £5,000 in fines for this easy error.

Whileoutdoor lightsmay add the perfect touch to your home this Christmas, households should be aware that they can potentially land you in trouble with the law.

Of course there is no specific law that bans you from putting Christmas lights on the exterior of your home, but there is an official act which ensures these twinkling displays don’t become a neighbourhood nuisance.

Light law

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 states that local councils must look into complaints about artificial lights from homes if the light could be considered a “statutory nuisance”.

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While there are no set levels for light to be considered a nuisance, the law generally refers to light which unreasonably and substantially interferes with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises.

Lights would also be considered a nuisance if they causes or are likely to cause injury to health.

Meanwhile, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says artificial light nuisances can include any of the following:

• Security lights (domestic and commercial)
• Sports facilities (like floodlit football pitches)
• Decorative lighting of buildings or landscapes
• Laser shows and light art

When looking into complaints about potential light nuisances, councils assess whether the interferes with the use of a property and whether it may affect health.

They also consider how it’s likely to affect the average person, how often it happens, how long it lasts, when it happens, and whether it’s in the town or country.

If a complaint is made to a local council and it is agreed the lights are causing a nuisance, homeowners can be served with an abatement notice, which may require the lights to be switched off or limited during certain hours.

Any households that don’t comply with such an order can face fines of up to £5,000 or be prosecuted.

To avoid facing this possible fine, legal experts at Fosters Solicitors advise households to speak to their neighbours first before putting up a display of lights, especially if there is a “Grinch next door”.

They should also be wary of placing decorations that will interfere with the enjoyment of their home, such as placing lights where they directly shine into neighbours’ windows or blocking access to other properties.

A family in Stoke-on-Trent is all too familiar with this “Scrooge” law after being ordered to turn off their Christmas lights last year due to light pollution.

Other members of the public were quick to point out simple solutions to the issue of light pollution from neighbours.

Commenting on a Mumsnet thread discussing one user’s dispute with her neighbour, one person asked: “Can you not just put up some blackout curtains?”

“Don’t think I’d have the time or energy to give this so much headspace let alone be outside at night taking pictures,” the commenter added.

A Reddit user made a similar suggestion in a forum over another family’s dispute with neighbours.

“On the one hand, curtains exist,” they pointed out.

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