Housing Disrepair Success Stories – Damp, Mould Growth and Broken Toilet

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 carry out 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’ Housing Disrepair case is as follows:

We were instructed to deal with a case that involved mould growth and damp. The property also suffered with large cracks and our client was left without a working toilet for 16 days. This disrepair reoccurred after our client’s landlord said they had completed the works that they were bound to carry out from a previous disrepair claim.

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. The landlord also owes a duty of care by virtue of Section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 that the occupiers remain reasonably safe from personal injury or from damage to their property.

Hodge Jones & Allen prepared a detailed Letter of Claim which was sent to the landlord. During the same period instructions were prepared and sent to an independent surveyor to attend the property and provide a report on the conditions of the property. Once the intendent surveyor’s report was received, an updated Letter of Claim was sent to the landlord however they failed to provide a response within the required time frame.

Our Housing Team issued proceedings against our client’s landlord for an order for specific performance, damages and costs. The claim was defended by our client’s landlord, however after filing a defence, our client’s landlord agreed to complete works.

Negotiations were subsequently entered into and the claim was settled for a sum of £5,000. The parties agreed upon terms of settlement including that all works particularised in our independent surveyor’s report would be carried out and be completed within 3 months.

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 0330 822 3451 or request a call back.