Vulnerable Housing Association tenant awarded £5,000

Our client moved into a Housing Association-owned, three bed, semi-detached property in 2011 and had been reporting ongoing leaks and electrical issues since 2017 by phone to their landlord.  Our client is considered a vulnerable tenant.  The landlord had carried out previous investigations and had stopped leaks when these were reported but failed to repair damage caused during the investigations and repairs.

Our client experienced several leaks from the bathroom which had resulted in the partial collapse of the ceiling in the living room downstairs, further stains on the ceilings in the living room and kitchen and had affected the electrical wiring of the property.  There were also leaks from the boiler which affected the heating system.

The surveyor’s report showed that the disrepair issues raised in the claim were still ongoing and, when compared with the repair logs provided from our client’s tenancy file, it was clear that the landlord had been negligent in their duty to provide a safe and comfortable home for their tenant and in their duty to support a vulnerable member of their community.

Our client was re-housed whilst works were undertaken.  The landlord allocated our client a support worker who Imperium Law worked closely with to ensure that all repairs were completed fully and to our client’s satisfaction.

Our housing disrepair team built a body of evidence demonstrating the impact that living in these conditions had on our client which, along with the evidence of structural disrepair in our client’s home, showed that the landlord was in breach of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which forms part of the 2004 Housing Act.

The landlord and Imperium Law built a good working rapport and negotiations resulted in our client being awarded £5,000.