Do you have mouldy walls, infestation, leaking windows or pipes or a faulty boiler which your landlord is refusing to fix?
Resolute Legal has an experienced housing disrepair department – let us take care of the law for You.
Here is the briefest summary of your rights and what to expect.
If your tenancy is under seven years, claims for housing disrepair or housing conditions can be brought against your landlord under section 11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985.
Your landlord has a duty to:
- To keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling, including drains, gutters, and external pipes;
- To keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling for the supply of water, gas, electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences)…and;
- To keep in repair and proper working order the installation in the dwelling for space heating and heating water;
On 20th March 2019, this Act was updated to ensure that tenants can expect their homes ‘to be fit for human habitation’. This provided additional rights for tenants.
Your landlord will probably also have additional contractual obligations which can be found in your tenancy agreement.
Speak to us, and let us determine if your landlord has failed to comply with his obligations to you.
We will write to your landlord to arrange for our expert surveyor to attend your home, and then carry out any repairs.
There is legal protection for tenants to prevent your landlord from trying to evict you.
You may be able to obtain additional compensation.
In our experience, most reasonable landlords will cooperate when a lawyer becomes involved on your behalf and agree to carry out the required repairs.
In those cases, where a landlord does not respond or cooperate, there is the option of County Court proceedings.
We will be able to advice you and guide you through that process accordingly at the relevant time.
The progress of a housing claim, is governed by the latest version (12th February 2020) of the Civil Courts, ‘Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims (England)’. It is intended to encourage you and your landlord to resolve the repair problem at an early stage, without having to go to Court; and sets out various timescales for each side to exchange information.
In our experience, how long a claim might take depends on the nature and extent of the repair problems but most crucially, the attitude of your landlord and their appointed lawyers.
We would say that in our experience a straightforward case should take between 3 – 6 months, and a complicated case, which involves the commencement of court proceedings can take up to 18 months.
