Court awards £50,000 in damages against council over home that was unfit for human habitation

A judge at Central London County Court has awarded a claimant more than £50,000 in damages after her council property was found to be unfit for human habitation.

The claimant, Ms D, had been a secure tenant of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) since May 2010.

She was said to have experienced disrepair issues from the day she moved into the property.

According to her law firm Hodge, Jones & Allen, the property suffered from longstanding disrepair including leaks, damp, mould, cracks to walls and ceiling and ill-fitting and defective doors and windows.

Hodge, Jones & Allen partner Farzana Chowdhury arranged for an inspection of the property by an independent expert surveyor.

The surveyor confirmed that the property was in disrepair and that LBHF were in breach of their repairing obligations under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and in breach of the duty of care under Section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972. The report also confirmed that the premises were unfit for human habitation.

Proceedings were subsequently issued against the council.

At trial the judge struck out the council’s defence and entered judgment for Ms D and awarded damages from the start of her tenancy.

Hodge, Jones & Allen said that when assessing damages, the judge accepted that the property disrepair of her home fell into three broad periods of time, namely:

• 2010 to 2014 – disrepair which included cracks to the walls and ceilings, damp and mould, watermarks to the ceiling and a boiler that frequently lost pressure
• 2013 to March 2020 – further deterioration to her home caused by a leaking roof
• 20 March 2020 – the date from which the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 applied to all tenancies in existence.

The most common way of assessing damages in disrepair cases is a percentage deduction of the rent, the law firm said.

The judge awarded damages of 35% and 40% for the first two periods. However, for the last period the judge awarded damages of 100% of the rent from March 2020, which is when the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 came into force.

Farzana Chowdhury said: “This is a significant decision and one of the first on a property’s fitness for human habitation. The judge held that if a property is deemed unfit for human habitation, the tenant derives no benefit from it and, therefore, the diminution of the rent should be 100%. My client suffered intolerable living conditions for a number of years and Hammersmith and Fulham chose to ignore her situation. This is the only decision the court could come too.”

Hammersmith and Fulham Council said it accepted unconditionally the decision of the Court.

A spokesperson for the London borough said: “We have made a sincere and unreserved apology to the local resident and fully acknowledge that we failed to resolve the repairs needed in a timely manner.

“We are learning lessons from every case and implementing changes, including listening more closely to residents, investing in contractor capacity and building our management team to ensure that our supply chain meets the required service standards.”

They added: “We now have dedicated contractors to handle outstanding repairs in our homes and a new Disrepair Team and Complaints & Resolution Team to deal with escalated repairs cases in our ageing housing stock.

“We are now completing an average of over 1,000 repairs per week. Since May 2023, the number of outstanding repair jobs has fallen by 27% and the unresolved number of damp and mould repairs by 86%. We are now handling all complaints in relation to our repairs service by the prescribed deadline. 

“We will continue to fundamentally transform our Housing service to consistently provide homes for residents of which they and we are proud.”

Harry Rodd

See also: Fitness for human habitation: quantum and notice - Thomas Stockton examines two recent cases from the County Courts which look at quantum and notice in respect of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.