Housing disrepair is a common problem amongst private and council tenants. Your landlord has a responsibility for some of the repairs and maintenance carried out on your home and is obligated to ensure that these are carried out in a timely manner. The basis for this is ensuring that tenants are living in a warm, energy efficient, safe environment. Read Full Article to more about tenant and rental property.
The types of maintenance that your landlord is responsible for include:
- The structure and exterior of the property
- water, gas, electricity and sanitation systems
- heating and hot water systems
- safe electrical wiring
- appliances included under the tenancy agreement
So if your air conditioning unit breaks down, report it immediately to your landlord so he can contact a local hvac services contractor at once. If you are experiencing problems with any of the above, and your landlord is refusing or dragging their feet to fix it, then it is likely that you can find an a/c service yourself to help get repairs underway and then make a claim for compensation.
Housing disrepair can be very bad for your health, damp or cold environments breed germs and illness so you have a right to live in a clean warm environment. Many illnesses are exacerbated by cold and damp environments such as Asthma. If you have found yourself or your family are suffering more with chest infections or colds, then it is possible that this can be linked to your living environment. This could make you eligible to claim compensation for the damage this has done to your health and/or loss of earnings you have suffered while unwell.
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There is the potential to contract a serious illness due to damp or mould growth in your home. black mould in particular can cause a range of diseases such as liver cancer and pneumonia which can be deadly. It is critically important that you seek out help and advice if you have mould in your home or any sort of housing disrepair which isn’t being taken care of.
In order to make a claim for compensation it is important to allow the landlord one last chance in order to rectify the situation. This is achieved by sending your landlord a pre-action protocol, which is a declaration informing your landlord that you will be looking to take legal action if the repairs are not completed. Once the time frame stated within the pre-action protocol is reached then you are able to move forward with your claim for compensation.
Any compensation you receive will be based on the impact the disrepair has had on your life, this includes any periods of sickness attributable to your ill health. If you have had to avoid certain rooms in your house due to damp or mould growth, then it is possible to claim back portions of rent relative to the inconvenience this has caused, and the length of time you have had the issue for.
There are numerous housing disrepair solicitors so shop around before choosing one to take on your case. They will all have specific terms and conditions you should be fully informed about including different deductions for no win no fee cases. So check out a few before signing up!
Cormac Reynolds is a lover of sports and also enjoys keeping up with the latest social media trends. He has been part of the industry for over half a decade.
