What Counts as Housing Disrepair?

Transcript

Hello, I'm Sarah from Sparrowhawk legal and I'm here today to talk to you about housing, disrepair and specifically what your landlord is responsible for and what you can claim for. So there's quite a long list of things that your landlord is responsible for and that is for maintaining them and repairing, if they are broken. So drains, if they are blocked, overflowing, not getting rid of the water properly, that counts as disrepair. So, moving on, we've got brickwork. So if you have exterior brickwork that is crumbling and falling apart, that again is disrepair. Flooring. So if you've got cracked flooring or tiles missing or carpet that's just past its day, that's disrepair. Next on the list, we've got plaster. So that's internal plaster work. If it's crumbling or cracked again, that is disrepair. Tiles.

So talking kitchen tiles, bathroom tiles, if they are falling off the walls, disrepair. A big one is boilers. So you'll particularly notice this in the winter, if your boiler is faulty and not working properly, you'll be cold. That's disrepair. Boilers must be serviced and you must be having a gas check every twelve months per the law, and if that isn't happening as well, got, you'll definitely have a claim there. So another big one is leaks.

So, obviously in the UK we get a lot of rain, and recently we've had a lot of rain and we've had a lot of people come to us to tell us about leaks that they're having from the roof, that could be from missing tiles, or it could be making its way through exterior brickwork, even things like bathroom leaks, or the toilet leaks, and it's coming through from upstairs to downstairs, causing damage. Again, that's disrepair and it must be dealt with by the landlord. Then we've got light fittings. So the electrics in your house or your flat or wherever you live, they should be maintained, and if they are damaged in any way, it's dangerous and it's disrepair, especially if you have faulty sockets. So, next on the list, we've got bathrooms.

So we're talking if you have a broken toilet, a broken bath, or taps that aren't working, shower that isn't working, these are all disrepair. Kitchen. So all the kitchen units that were originally there when you moved in, the landlord is responsible for. So if you have drawers that are falling out and not fitting correctly or the cupboard doors are falling off, that counts as disrepair. And probably one of the biggest in the housing disrepair world is the mould and the damp. At the moment, we're seeing it up and down the country, unfortunately, definitely. It can cause health issues, respiratory issues, as we've seen in the news. That is a big one, and it's very dangerous to try and clean it off yourself.

You definitely need to look and research into how to clean mould properly, because the mould spores can spread and they can get inside your lungs, they can spread onto other parts of the property and cause growth in another area. That is a particularly big thing in the housing disrepair world, the mould. So another obvious one is doors and windows. So if you've got doors that aren't locking or the windows that aren't shutting properly, these all count towards disrepair because they're letting air drafts in, leaks, perhaps. So on top of that, it's very unsafe, not being able to lock your windows and doors. So another one is extractor fans and ventilation.

So if you have a bathroom and a shower in your bathroom that has no extractor fan, obviously that's going to cause some damp and mould growth at some point, because there is no way where for that steam to escape to. Obviously, opening the window does help, but who wants to open the window in the middle of winter when you're in the shower? I know why. I don't. So we've got faulty electrics next. We've just touched on that before with the lights, with plug sockets and things like that. It's obviously very dangerous and that should be reported immediately to the landlord. So another one is dangerous, stairwells or stair banisters or anything to do with stairs. So if the floorboards are weak or your banister is falling off, that is a very dangerous situation, and that does count as disrepair.

So heating as well, as we spoke about boilers earlier on, so radiators, if they aren't heating up properly or you've attempted to bleed the radiators and they're still not producing enough heat, that is disrepair and that is something the landlord is responsible for. So externally, you've got also paving. So if you're paving stones or slabs on your way into the house are uneven or cracked, and it possibly could cause an accident, that is also the landlord's responsibility. He has to make sure that the walk, the entrance to the home is safe. So we talked about drains before as well. This also ties into that. So you've got guttering.

So you've got guttering all the way around the external part of the house or property that is overflowing, or you have vegetation growth that can cause blockages and it could cause water trickling down the external brickwork which again can get into the house, causing dampness, mould. That all needs to be taken care of by the landlord and it should be done regularly. So as you can see, the list is quite extensive and it's probably not an exhaustive list either. So I haven't mentioned anything about infestations, things like that. There is a lot that goes into housing disrepair and also a lot that goes into what your landlord is responsible for. If you are having issues with your landlord not fixing these disrepair and you feel like you're just getting ignored, there is things you can do. Obviously. I work for Sparrow hall legal.

We're a housing disrepair legal firm, so we will take these claims from people and we would follow through with that by going to the landlord and doing it the legal way in trying to get you those repairs fixed. But on top of that, compensation as well for having to live like that. Now, I know it's. It is scary and it does feel like you don't want to overstep your mark and things like that, but these kind of things, if left, will get worse, progressively worse. And it can affect you physically, mentally, emotionally and your whole family has to live like that, you know? So please don't feel scared. And even if you just want advice, you can come to us and ask. We're more than happy to just have a chat with you with no obligation.

Every single case that we do take.