Approximately 520,000 social housing homes that fall below the Governments minimum standards and 924,000 privately rented homes. These homes can be in such terrible conditions that it causes health problems such as breathing and skin conditions. This has a knock-on effect to the NHS who spend around £1.4 billion a year treating these conditions1.
We back the Safe as Houses campaign launched by the Mirror Newspaper who are seeking:
- An overhaul of the complaints system
- A ban on “no fault” evictions, which allow private landlords to evict tenants for no reason
- A compulsory register to show properties are safe which is accessible to all
People living in these homes can experience issues with mould, damp, infestations, broken boilers, windows stuck shut, and leaks, as well as many other issues.
Landlords are responsible for electrical wiring, gas pipes and boilers, heating and hot water, ventilation, sinks, baths, toilets, drains, the structure and exterior of the house, external doors and windows, even if your tenancy agreement states that you are responsible.
Once you report problems in your home, you are required to give your landlord a reasonable amount of time to carry out an inspection and repairs. There is no set timescale and so it is important that you keep a note of all the times you report the issues and who you reported them to.
We would suggest that no longer than three months is reasonable, and a lot less is serious cases of disrepair. Emergency issues such as no water, no hot water, no heating, leaks etc should be repaired within weeks of the first notification.
However, we have been approached by clients who have suffered disrepair for years with no repairs in sight.
Once you have instructed a Solicitor a letter of claim should be sent immediately. The landlord then has 20 days in which to inspect the property and provide their inspection report as well as dates when the repairs will be carried out. In the most severe cases proceedings can be issued for “specific performance” which is an order from the Court specifying that repairs be carried out.
Often landlords will try to shift the blame for the disrepair to the tenant, because of lack of ventilation, unclean properties, properties that are full of belongings resulting in a lack of air flow. It is therefore important that you ensure that you keep your home clean, open windows whenever drying clothes in the property and ventilate the bathrooms when getting a shower or bath.
If you are experiencing disrepair in your rented accommodation, then get in touch with our specialists for a free no obligation chat about your options on 0151 306 3694 or email ab@phoenixlegalsolicitors.co.uk.