By Ruairi Blaney, trainee solicitor, consumer claims at Express Solicitors [1]
Blaney: Insurmountable process without solicitors
I handle an increasing number of disrepair claims [2], including cases involving damp and mould, significant structural subsidence and even instances where properties are simply unfit for human habitation.
This increase may reflect wider issues in the social housing sector, but the reality is that many social tenants are simply being let down by their landlords and are turning to solicitors to enforce their rights to finally have repairs carried out.
A recent case we took on highlights not only how challenging it can be for social tenants to get repairs completed, but also how legal assistance can bring an end to years of distress and inconvenience.
I chose to share this case because it’s a powerful reminder of the real struggles tenants face and the difference we as legal professionals can make in holding landlords to account.
When it rains – it pours!
Our clients approached us in 2023 complaining that their property had suffered from leaks from the roof, causing water damage to multiple rooms within the property. Despite the severity of these issues, the landlord (the local council) had failed to resolve the leaks despite multiple visits from surveyors and reassurances that it would be fixed.
We were told these issues have persisted for the past seven years, meaning any repairs carried out were insufficient to prevent the leaks returning, causing significant stress and anxiety for the tenants.
Over the previous winter, they had to empty buckets of water three to four times a day. Even when away on holiday, they had to arrange for a family member to come and empty the buckets each day. The disrepair and the management of it, became a defining feature of their daily lives.
After going back and forth with their landlord without success, and following a significantly bad period of weather, the clients decided that enough was enough and sought legal help.
Denial – the first step towards acceptance
We sent a letter of claim to the landlord outlining all the issues which our clients complained of and requested a response within 30 days. During this period, we obtained an expert report from a firm of chartered building surveyors.
This report confirmed that there were various issues with the roof which were the cause of the leaks. The expert estimated the cost of repair works would be approximately £2,000.
We then received a response from the clients’ landlord, who said they were not the owners of the property and directed us to a housing association which they claimed was – a housing association that neither of the clients had heard of or received any communication from.
The housing association then denied being the landlord and pointed us back in the direction of the council.
Bizarrely, we found ourselves in a legal standoff with two different landlords, where neither one would accept they owned the property and were under any obligation to fix the issues.
After a detailed review of the clients’ evidence and Land Registry information, we had no doubt that it was in fact the council that was the landlord. We provided the council with one last chance but again it denied being the landlord.
Left with no other option, we issued court proceedings against the council.
Court proceedings – accusations in search of evidence
Following the claim being issued at court, we received the landlord’s defence which simply stated that the issues had been fixed and the clients had been compensated by a reduction in their rental payments which exceeded the value of the claim.
Our clients confirmed that neither of these things had happened. After the council did not respond to a request for evidence to back up its claims, we made an application to the court.
The application was listed and the council wrote to the court maintaining that, as the repair works had been completed and the clients compensated, the claim should be struck out.
The judge was highly critical of the council in its approach, but afforded it one last opportunity to clarify and support its allegation.
If such evidence had existed, we believed that the council could have pushed the claim to a final hearing. However, rather than pursue this further, due to what can only be presumed to be a lack of evidence, the council settled the claim post-hearing of the application, agreeing compensation of £6,220, in addition to the outstanding works at the property being completed within 56 days of acceptance of our offer.
Conclusion and reflection
While this represented a great result for our clients, the claim process perhaps reflects how difficult and almost insurmountable it can be for social tenants to try and enforce their contractual rights, against their landlords.
From a denial of owning the property, to a denial of there being disrepair, to unfounded accusations of rental reductions, it is hard to see how our clients would have ever had these issues resolved without approaching solicitors.
As one of our clients said: “It was an incredibly frustrating process. We had never missed a payment for our rent, and we kept our end of the bargain throughout the tenancy, however the landlord dropped the ball bigtime. The whole process took a toll on me and my partner. Obviously if works need to be completed, it can take some time but not as long as it did.
“The landlord cannot expect us not to take a legal claim when they are not upholding their end of the bargain. All we wanted was a liveable home. We would gladly give the money back for none of this hassle.”