No win no fee for housing disrepair claims

barnaby-bear

Did you follow it up at the time with the private lettings officer in the local council's environmental health/housing so have independent evidence that you tried to resolve through the proper means.

The landlord can argue it was down to you not ventilating properly or they weren't informed/you denied access. One parties word against another.

This is really private solicitor territory as the compensation would only ever be a small fraction of the rent to cover the cost of and running of dehumidifiers to counteract the effects, and the difficulties in actually winning and then getting the money. The landlord may not be too solvent if they weren't interested and could be award repayment at £1 a week if they can show their letting business is runnign at a paper loss.

If you viewed and rented the flat was it not very obvious if it was so bad or were you in the position of not much choice (I appreciate how hard finding anywhere can be). To be honest you might be best moving on and investing no personal effort and money and just forget the bad experience - perhaps lodge the issue with the council letting officer so if the next guys have the same issue / the landlord shows up on their radar theirs more evidence.... karma usually gets 'em.

I hope your new home is better.

tilly-roo wrote: »

Hi there

Cut a VERY long story short; my partner and I are taking legal action against our ex lettings agent. We were with them for 5 months in a property that was completely inhabitable due to damp and mould and caused us health problems/a lot of stress and refused to carry out the repairs even though we were paying £650 a month to live in a property where both bedrooms were inhabitable! We have been for a consultation with a solicitor who said we may be entitled to getting part of the rent paid back and even some compensation.

So in short we are looking in to a no win no fee solicitor (as we have just had to move house because of everything happening we have no money at the moment and we are not entitled to legal aid) but I am just wondering if anybody can recommend me a good no win no fee solicitor perhaps they have had a good experience with for housing related things?

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum please feel free to move it if needed! Thanks so much!

tbs624

Off topic - nice to see your return barnaby-bear

tbs624

IMO the time to have pursued legal action was when you were living at the property and suffering and needed the damp/mould issue to be resolved.

If you really want to pursue the possibility of some post-tenancy compo then contact the Law Society and ask who in your area offers NWNF for such cases.

However, you perhaps need to bear in mind that it is not always the LL who is entirely at fault if damp & condensation occur in a property. A solicitor saying you *may* have a case is one thing - but actually pursuing compensation for a disrepair issue does not always end in a successful result.