Council Pays £4,185 After Two Years of Unresolved Damp, Mould and Disrepair

Our client reported disrepair in her home for almost two years. Despite her repeated complaints, her landlord, the London Borough of Brent, failed to take action.

The problems affected almost every part of the property:

• Cracking to the external render and defective guttering
• Mould growth in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom
• Dampness in the living room caused by water ingress, leading to further mould
• Defective plasterwork and a defective bedroom window
• Defective drawer units in the kitchen

A fair offer, refused

We instructed a wholly independent expert surveyor to inspect the property. On the strength of that evidence, our client attempted to resolve matters amicably and made a settlement proposal in April 2026.

The council did not accept the offer. It wanted to obtain its own expert evidence, despite the independent report already before it. With no reasonable settlement proposal on the table, we had no choice but to send proceedings to Court for issue.

The council’s own expert confirmed the disrepair

After proceedings were sent to Court, the London Borough of Brent finally returned with its own report. That report confirmed the disrepair our client had been living with. The council admitted liability and offered £4,185.13 in settlement, which represented more than 20% of the rent our client had paid for the period she was forced to live in those conditions.

Resolved in under six months

This is a case that should have been resolved much sooner. The disrepair was reported for almost two years before our client came to us. Once we were involved, the matter was brought to a successful conclusion in just under six months.