Court Awards £3,000 and Orders £17,010 of Repairs After Landlord Ignored Leaks for Over Two Years

Our client had been reporting serious disrepair in her home for more than two years. She did everything a tenant is supposed to do: she told her landlord about the problems, she waited, and she reported them again. Her landlord failed to act. By the time the matter reached court, the cost of putting her home right had grown to over £17,000.

This case study explains what she was living with, the steps we took to resolve the claim without court proceedings, and why a judge ultimately had to order her landlord to carry out the repairs.

The conditions our client was living with

The disrepair in this property was not confined to one room. It affected the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room and the bedroom, meaning our client had no respite from the conditions anywhere in her own home.

• A leak into the kitchen from the ceiling, originating from the bathroom above. The leak caused cracks and holes in the kitchen ceiling, with damp and mould spreading across the walls and ceiling areas.
• Crumbling plaster caused by the persistent damp, alongside a defective extractor fan that made the moisture problem worse rather than better.
• Roof leaks so severe that the living room ceiling collapsed, with further holes opening up in the bathroom ceiling.
• Water ingress every time it rained, meaning the conditions worsened with the weather and our client could never be confident her home was safe or dry.
• Damp and mould in the bedroom, the one room where she should have been able to rest away from the disrepair.

Leaking roofs, collapsed ceilings and defective ventilation fall squarely within a landlord's repairing obligations under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and persistent damp and mould can render a property unfit for human habitation. You can read more about these claim types on our leaks and water damage and damp and mould pages.

We tried to settle before going to court

Court proceedings should be a last resort in housing disrepair claims, and the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims exists precisely so that landlords have every opportunity to resolve matters before a judge becomes involved.

We followed that route. After obtaining expert evidence confirming the extent of the disrepair, our client made a proposal to settle the claim amicably in May this year. It was a genuine attempt to resolve matters without litigation.

The offer was not accepted. In fact, her landlord did not respond at all.

Judgment entered, and a court-ordered outcome

In the absence of any response, we issued court proceedings on our client's behalf, and judgment was entered in her favour.

Only once proceedings were under way did her landlord begin attempting to compromise the claim. By then, the settlement proposals put forward were substandard and did not reflect what our client had endured or what the expert evidence showed. We advised her to let the court decide.

In August this year, the court determined the matter and ordered:

• £3,000 in damages for the disrepair our client had lived with;
• Remedial works totalling some £17,010, to be carried out within a 90 day period; and
• Legal costs payable in addition, so the award was not reduced by the cost of bringing the claim.

Why this case matters

This is another example of a claim that ought to have been settled before proceedings were ever issued. Our client gave her landlord every opportunity: two years of reports, expert evidence shared, and a reasonable offer on the table in May. At every stage, the landlord either ignored her or responded inadequately.

The works order is the most telling part of the outcome. A court does not order £17,010 of remedial works within 90 days unless the disrepair is genuine, serious and outstanding. Had the repairs been done when they were first reported, the cost to the landlord, and the harm to our client, would have been a fraction of what they became.

A just outcome was obtained some 11 months from instruction. That is 11 months our client should never have needed a solicitor for.

Could you make a claim?

If you rent from a council or housing association, you have reported disrepair such as leaks, damp, mould or a damaged ceiling, and your landlord has failed to carry out the repairs within a reasonable time, you may be entitled to compensation and a court order requiring the works to be completed.

We act for tenants across England on a no win, no fee basis. You can read exactly how that works on our costs and funding page, or request a free case assessment using the form on this page.