Housing Disrepair

‘Vulnerable’ tenants in crumbling homes will have ‘no justice’

A new rule will leave vulnerable people facing eviction or living in leaky, crumbling homes with no “access to justice”.

The new rule, coming into force in April next year, will set the amount claimants can recover in housing cases where they’re awarded damages of less than £100,000. Already applied to some areas of law, ‘fixed recoverable costs’ will make housing cases funded through legal aid or ‘no win, no fee’ models financially unviable for lawyers to take on.

John Lowry, a director at Liverpool-based CEL Solicitors, represents “vulnerable and financially not well off” tenants in housing disrepair cases against housing associations and local councils. He said: “We know this is going to create access to justice issues.

READ MORE: Couple ‘who always paid rent’ evicted as baby lay dying in hospital

“There’s already an inequality between the parties in relation to resources, finance and stature. I think what these proposals will do, it’s only going to widen them. Realistically, it’s going to result in a large number of claimants now being denied access to justice.”

Housing cases can prove costly, sometimes taking years to get to trial, where lawyers are required to present expert evidence from electricians or documents like drainage surveys and structure reports. This leads to costs in the thousands, which few tenants, particularly those in social housing, can afford.

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 improved tenants’ rights in terms of the repairs landlords are required to carry out. But John said there are cases where landlords ignore agreements and court orders to complete repairs by a certain date, meaning lawyers have to submit multiple breach claims against them, each at additional cost.

Cases that take years to get to court could cost law firms around £20,000, according to John, who estimated only a quarter of this would be reimbursed under the new fixed costs rule for housing cases. When commercial law firms can’t afford to take on cases, clients have to turn to free community services like Vauxhall Law Centre.


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