Housing Disrepair Success Stories – Payment Awarded to Client Dealing With Heart Problems Due to Mould

The Housing Team at Hodge Jones & Allen have been defending the rights of tenants since 1977 and we understand how your life can be turned upside down when a landlord refuses to make repairs to your home.

With this blog series, each week we plan to share the details of another successful settlement to show tenants that help to is available to get results and gain compensation.

This week’s Housing Disrepair case is as follows:

We were instructed to deal with a case involving serious housing disrepair, which severe mould and damp throughout the property. The tenant suffered from serious heart problems due to the damp and had to be taken to hospital when she tried to remove the mould. The mould returned every year but the landlord simply carried out mould washes without addressing the root cause.

It is an implied term of the tenancy agreement, pursuant to Section 11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 that her landlord would keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling house and the installations therein for the supply of gas, water, electricity, sanitation and space heating.

We prepared a detailed Letter of Claim which was sent to the landlord. In addition, instructions were prepared and sent to an independent surveyor to attend the property and provide a report on the conditions of the property. Upon receipt of the surveyor’s report, an updated Letter of Claim was sent to the landlord however they refused to follow the findings of the independent surveyor. The surveyor then carried out further tests which confirmed that the damp issues were caused by structural issues which the landlord should have addressed. The landlord then agreed to complete the repairs but offered only a nominal sum of compensation.

Our Housing Team issued proceedings against our client’s landlord for an order for specific performance, damages and costs. The claim was defended however shortly after the defence Ms J’s landlord agreed to carry out all necessary works, compensation and pay her legal costs.

The parties negotiated further and agreed upon terms of settlement including completion of all the repairs, payment of damages of £6,500 within 21 days and payment of Ms J’s legal costs.

Siddiq Fazaluddin is a Senior Associate in our leading Housing Team (ranked tier 1 by Legal 500 and Chambers UK legal directories). Siddiq’s own specialist housing skills and expertise are also recognised by the leading legal directory, the Legal 500. Siddiq has earned a reputation for acting for vulnerable clients and obtaining prompt and favourable outcomes for his clients.

If you need help with housing disrepair, you can try our housing disrepair compensation calculator or talk to our housing law specialists today. Call us on 0808 291 1437 or request a call back.