Housing Disrepair Success Stories – Severe Subsidence
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 represented a housing association tenant whose home has, for a number of years, been suffering from severe and worsening subsidence, associated leaks and considerable resulting damage to her property. The conditions were causing her considerable distress as would be expected and she was having to fill wide cracks herself with expanding foam and sellotape. Various inspections had been carried out and monitoring undertaken but the housing association had failed to act on any of these recommendations.
We assisted the client with obtaining an expert report in 2019 which confirmed there was an issue of subsidence which needed further investigation by a specialist structural engineer. Despite the landlords stating on numerous occasions from 2021 that further inspections would be carried out, no such steps were taken and we obtained a further report in September 2021 confirming that nothing had been done. We assisted the client with bringing a claim against her landlords after they failed to engage properly with pre-action correspondence or to progress the matter at all. As part of the court case we obtained an order that the landlord must obtain a structural engineer’s report but again they failed to do so and eventually we took such steps ourselves and obtained a report confirming that significant structural movement was taking place and that the property was not fit for habitation. Despite this, the landlord still sought to adjourn the final hearing, an application which we strongly opposed.
At the final hearing which did proceed, we obtained a court order that the client should be decanted urgently and that the landlords must produce a full schedule and timeframe for works by the autumn. The court also ordered the landlord to pay the client compensation of £22,000 plus further damages to be calculated as a percentage of the rent until all works are fully completed.
Our Housing Team is ranked tier 1 by Legal 500 and Chambers UK legal directories. The team are seen as an industry leader in social housing law. Dedicated to providing exceptional service for all of its clients in disrepair, possession and homelessness. The Housing Team are recognised for their advancement of the law in high profile cases in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
If you need help with housing disrepair, talk to us today on 0808 278 0639 or request a call back.
