£6,519 at Trial After the Landlord Offered Just £350

Our client was successful at trial after fighting for almost two years to have the conditions in her home taken seriously. The disrepair consisted of water ingress to the bathroom, mould, flaking paintwork and a damaged window handle. Her complaints had gone inadequately addressed since December 2022, meaning damages accrued over a period of 183 weeks.

A case that should have settled

In January 2026, Curo Places Limited offered just £350 to settle the claim. Our client had already made a reasonable Part 36 offer of her own back in October 2024, a formal settlement offer which, if the other side refuses it and then fails to beat it at trial, carries costs consequences for them. The landlord refused to negotiate amicably, and a case that should have settled was instead drawn out to a trial.

The award

Given the distress and inconvenience caused to our client, the judge awarded compensation reflecting a 25% reduction in the rental value of the property for the period of disrepair, plus the standard 10% uplift on general damages that follows from the Court of Appeal’s decision in Simmons v Castle. The total award came to £6,519.27: over 18 times the landlord’s offer, and better than our client’s own Part 36 offer made 15 months earlier.

Failed repairs, and a further order

This was another example of a landlord attempting repairs inadequately. The works attempted had failed, and the court made a further order requiring the landlord to remove the mould in the property, repair the damaged paintwork in the bathroom and bedroom, and properly investigate the source of the water ingress before carrying out the necessary repairs. Compensation matters, but so does making sure the underlying problem is actually fixed rather than papered over.

If your landlord has failed to deal with damp, mould or water ingress in your home, our damp and mould claims page explains your rights, and our evidence guide covers what to gather before making a claim.