The report titled ‘Spotlight on damp and mould – It’s not lifestyle’ found over a two year period that up to 64% of potential housing disrepair claims were not dealt with appropriately by landlords, with many citing their tenants ‘lifestyle’ as the cause.

At MLA, we have seen the damaging impact of unsolved housing disrepair problems such as damp and mould on clients on numerous claims of this type.

Not only is their health and overall wellbeing put at risk, but their families also. To disregard repair reports or complaints as ‘not being serious enough’ and point to a tenant’s ‘lifestyle’ as the sole cause of disrepair can have devasting consequences.

As recently as September, a news story close to our home city of Liverpool told of six-year-old Alexa-Leigh’s life-changing injuries after her parents' reports of disrepair to their home had not been acted on by a private landlord.

In the report, this failure to act on housing disrepair claims has been put down to a combination of factors including “inaction, excessive delays or poor communication” whilst highlighting the need for a change of culture “from reactive to proactive”.

Amongst 26 recommendations to improve best practice, one, in particular, stood out to Team MLA:

Improve access to complaints to resolve issues, including alongside [housing] disrepair claims, and learn from them.

By choosing to use MLA for your client’s Housing Disrepair claim, you’ll be giving them access to a comprehensive Expert Panel made up of Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) qualified members.

With nationwide coverage, no client should not have access to resolve their issues because of location alone.

We want to help end the social housing crisis in the United Kingdom and support the HO’s call for a zero-tolerance stance on damp and mould.

To read the full report by Richard Blakeway, click here.

Contact Team MLA to receive award-winning customer service for your client’s claim from the Medico-Legal Provider of the Year 2021 by calling 03330 150 213 or click here to enquire online.