How Much Compensation Are Housing Association Disrepair Claims Worth? – Use Our Compensation Calculator To View Amounts
By Lewis Cobain. Last Updated 16th August 2023. If you’re wondering ‘how much compensation are housing association disrepair claims worth?’, it’s important to note that every claim is different. In this guide, we’ll help you understand how claims are valued and how much you could be entitled to, so please read on to learn more.
If you are a council or Housing Association tenant and you feel the home you live in has fallen into disrepair causing you to develop an illness or suffer an injury, you could be entitled to file a housing association disrepair claim against the Housing Association landlord.
To find out more about housing disrepair claims against Housing Association landlords and the procedure that goes into filing a claim, please click on the Select a Section below:
Select A Section
- Housing Disrepair Claims
- What Are Housing Associations?
- Sue Housing Association For Negligence – Am I Eligible to Claim?
- What Responsibilities Do Housing Associations Owe Tenants?
- Legal Action Against Housing Association – Example Scenarios
- A Guide To Claiming Compensation From A Housing Association For Disrepair
- Can I Sue For Poor Maintenance?
- Example Case Of Claiming Compensation From A Housing Association
- Can You Make Housing Association Disrepair Claims For Problems In Communal Areas?
- What Can I Include In My Compensation Claim?
- How Much Compensation For Housing Disrepair Could I Receive?
- Sue A Housing Association For Negligence With The Help Of A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- Useful Links
Housing Disrepair Claims
‘how much compensation are housing association disrepair claims worth?’
To be eligible for compensation, you must prove that you suffered harm due to your landlord breaching their duty of care. All landlords have a duty of care towards their tenants, whether they be your local council, a private landlord or housing association. Part of this duty of care includes ensuring that their properties are safe to live in and are to an acceptable standard. Per the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, your landlord is responsible for repairing certain issues in your home, such as:
- Anything to do with gas, water, and electricity.
- Mould, damp or leaks.
- Internal and external structural issues.
If your housing association were to not fix these issues within a reasonable timeframe, you could potentially become injured or ill. You may be able to make a claim for disrepair if you can prove that you became ill or injured due to your housing association’s negligence. However, you must be able to prove that you reported the issues to your housing association and that they took no steps to fix the issue within a reasonable timeframe (this is usually around 6 months).
Get in touch with our advisors for more information on housing disrepair claims. They can offer you free legal advice and could answer any questions you may have, such as ‘What is the pre action protocol for housing disrepair?’.
What Are Housing Associations?
Housing Associations offer low-cost accommodation much like local councils and they operate throughout the UK. Very often, the tenants are on low incomes or they require more in the way of support than other tenants. You can apply directly to a Housing Association or you can apply through a local council or local authorities, and it is perfectly okay to apply for a tenancy to several associations at any one time.
They are not-for-profit organisations and they rent properties whether it’s houses or flats throughout the country with an end goal being to provide tenants with low-cost accommodation. Housing Associations are run by volunteers who are elected by tenants and the committees of volunteers employ managers to run the properties.
The majority of Housing Associations are registered social landlords or RSLs although there are many kinds of organisations that offer various sorts of accommodation to all sorts of tenants.
Sue Housing Association For Negligence – Am I Eligible to Claim?
You might want to know if you are eligible to sue a housing association for negligence. There are several factors you must consider to determine if you have grounds for a valid claim. If you can answer yes to the questions below, you could be eligible to make a claim for negligence:
- Were you owed a legal duty of care by a housing association?
- Were you injured in the last three years due to an accident that happened in a property belonging to a housing association?
- Did the injury occur as a result of the negligence of a housing association?
Negligence relates to your housing association causing your injury or damage because of a breach in their duty of care towards you. Under the Defective Premises Act 1972, housing associations owe a duty of care to tenants to prevent personal injury caused by home defects. Subsequently, your housing association is obligated to repair or maintain your home to avoid any accidents from occurring.
If you have suffered an injury due to the negligence of a local housing association, our specialist solicitors could help you seek compensation. Speak to an advisor for a free consultation about your case, with no obligation to claim with us.
What Responsibilities Do Housing Associations Owe Tenants?
It is a legal obligation for Housing Association landlords to maintain their properties to an acceptable standard. The law clearly states that landlords are responsible for the following:
- To ensure that boilers are serviced regularly and in good working order
- To ensure that the plumbing, electrics and heating is kept in good working order
- To ensure that walls, plasterwork and roofs are inspected and well maintained ensuring the property is watertight
- To fix leaking pipes, mend guttering and any other apparent water problems
- To put right damp and mould
When it comes to outside areas and whose responsibility it is to maintain gardens and other communal areas, this depends on the terms stated in your rental agreement. To talk to a personal injury lawyer about your housing disrepair claim, please contact Legal Expert today.
Legal Action Against Housing Association – Example Scenarios
A housing association has a duty of care to their tenants. This means they have a legal responsibility to rectify certain conditions in their property if they could prove hazardous to the people living there.
Here are some examples of instances where they must step in:
- The presence of damp/mould
- Damage that causes a hazard, such as to the stairs
- Gas leaks
- Issues with plumbing
- Poorly maintained windows
- Problems with electricity
Whilst the above issues can cause illnesses such as respiratory problems, it’s also possible that damage to a property can cause bone fractures and bruising if a slip or fall is caused as a result.
If you want to find out if you can take legal action against your housing association, get in touch with our advisors today.
A Guide To Claiming Compensation From A Housing Association For Disrepair
The owners of Housing Associations are not always aware of defects on their properties because they do not live onsite. As such, as a tenant you must establish the following for your claim to succeed:
- You informed the housing association of the defect prior to being injured
- The housing association were given enough time to carry out the needed repairs prior to your injury occurring
All Housing Associations are legally obliged to respond to any disrepair complaints they receive within a reasonable time which is within 20 working days. However, when it comes to interpreting what is a “reasonable amount of time” depends on a complaint that’s lodged with them. In short, if a defect is deemed dangerous and therefore life-threatening, their response time should be sooner.
Should the Housing Association fail in their duty to make sure a living space and communal area is safe by not carrying out necessary repairs within a “reasonable time-frame” and you suffer an injury or illness as a direct result, you could be entitled to file a claim against the Housing Association owners.
Housing Association claims are complex proceedings because their legal defence is often harsh. In short, it’s best to seek the professional and expert advice of a specialist personal injury lawyer who would be able to handle this type of claim on your behalf, bearing in mind that Housing Associations are known to offer strong defences when you file a claim against them.
Can I Sue For Poor Maintenance?
If you’re wondering ‘how much compensation are housing association disrepair claims worth?’, this may be because your property was poorly maintained. It is the responsibility of the Housing Association owners to maintain and carry out repairs when necessary on all their properties. This includes residences and all communal areas which are detailed below:
- Stairwells
- Reception areas
- Hallways
- Gardens
- Car parks
The Defective Premises Act 1972 makes very clear that all landlords must maintain their properties which includes all communal areas. However, when the weather is extremely cold, the legislation is not that clear and as such clearing snow and ice from communal areas become a contentious problem. Should you suffer an injury because you slipped on ice in a communal area of a housing association property, you should seek the advice of a specialist legal professional.
If you were injured due to a broken handrail or broken step, you could be entitled to file a claim against the housing associations owners. A Legal Expert personal injury lawyer would be able to offer legal advice on claiming against your landlord in this instance. In the meantime, if you’re wondering ‘how much compensation are housing association disrepair claims worth?’, please read on.
Example Case Of Claiming Compensation From A Housing Association
A case involving a 38-year-old postman whose injury left him totally paralysed following an incident in his garden resulted in a High Court in London awarding him £2.5 million in compensation. His catastrophic injuries occurred when he was hit on the head by a falling branch of a tree in his garden. The injuries he suffered were catastrophic.
The amount he was awarded took into account that the injured postman and his family insisted that he be cared for in his own home which meant adapting the property as needed.
The case was taken to court by the postman’s father who cited Sovereign Housing Association as being negligent for not having maintained the tree as they should have done and that the Housing Association failed to repair or inspect the tree as regularly as they should have done to reduce the risks of branches falling to the ground.
It is worth noting that a Housing Association has a duty of care to ensure that all living areas are kept free from any sort of risk that could cause tenants to suffer an injury and this typically includes all communal areas. The court ruled that Sovereign had failed in their duty towards the postman and as such, he was awarded £2.5 million compensation for the severe, life-changing injuries he sustained.
Can You Make Housing Association Disrepair Claims For Problems In Communal Areas?
If you’re wondering ‘how much compensation are housing association disrepair claims worth?’, this may be as a result of experiencing problems in communal areas. All common and communal areas in housing association properties must be maintained by the management of housing associations. This includes the following areas:
- Hallways
- Stairs
- Lifts
When it comes to outside spaces which include gardens that are shared with other tenants, the housing association is responsible for maintaining them unless it is stipulated in a tenancy agreement that all tenants would share the responsibility of maintaining a garden area.
If you suffered an injury in a communal area in a housing association property through no fault of your own and it can be proved that the accident happened due to negligence on the part of the housing association, you could be entitled to claim negligence against the housing association owners.
To find out how a Legal Expert personal injury lawyer can assess your claim to establish liability, please contact us today. Using our housing disrepair compensation calculator, we would offer a ballpark figure of how much you may be awarded in a successful claim if you’re wondering ‘how much compensation are housing association disrepair claims worth?’.
What Can I Include In My Compensation Claim?
There are several things that can be included in a housing association disrepair claim which are out of pocket expenses incurred due to the negligence of a third party. Personal injury claims are complex which makes it hard to understand the process. A Legal Expert personal injury solicitor has years of experience when it comes to filing successful claims for clients in the past. Out of pocket expenses, you can include in a claim are detailed below:
- General damages
- Travel Expenses
- Medical expenses, including any treatments that are not available on the NHS and which are needed
- Loss of earnings
- Loss of anticipated earnings
- Care claim
- Damaged clothing or damage to other property
To find out more about the sort of expenses you can include in your claim, please contact us today and a Legal Expert personal injury lawyer will advise you how to proceed in filing a housing disrepair claim for compensation.
How Much Compensation For Housing Disrepair Could I Receive?
As each housing disrepair claim is different, the settlement you receive will be unique to your specific circumstances. Generally, though, your settlement you consist of up to two heads of claim. Firstly, you could receive special damages which provides reimbursement of costs Incurred due to the harm you suffered.
General damages can also be included as part of your claim for disrepair. General damages compensates for the pain and suffering caused by the injuries you experienced due to your home being in a poor state of repair.
To help value your pain and suffering, legal professionals will use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This text lists guideline compensation amounts for various injuries.
Below we’ve included a table providing figures from the JCG. As we already stated, each claim is assessed on an individual basis. Therefore, the figures in the table are not representative of the housing disrepair compensation you could receive.
| Type Of Harm | Notes | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Asthma (a) | Disturbed sleep and prolong coughing due to severe asthma that is disabling. | £43,060 to £65,740 |
| Asthma (b) | The person will need to use an inhaler occasionally due to chronic asthma that causes breathing difficulties. | £26,290 to £43,010 |
| Asthma (c) | Bronchitis and wheezing that affects social and working life. However the person is likely to largely recover within a few years. | £19,200 to £26,290 |
| Lung disease (d) | The person will frequently have to use an inhaler due to breathing difficulties. There will also be a significant effect on working and social life. | £31,310 to £54,830 |
| Lung disease (e) | Bronchitis with wheezing. However the symptoms are not major. | £20,800 to £31,310 |
| Lung Disease (f) | Slight breathlessness, however there is no effect on social and working life and the person should fully recover within a few years. | £10,640 to £20,800 |
Another way you could learn about the potential value of your claim is with our compensation calculator. This can provide an estimate of how much you could receive. Alternatively, you can get an accurate valuation based on your individual situation, by calling our advisors. They can estimate your claim’s value for free.
Sue A Housing Association For Negligence With The Help Of A No Win No Fee Solicitor
If you are eligible to take legal action against a housing association for housing disrepair or for a personal injury, one of our solicitors may be able to help you.
They may offer to help you to sue a housing association for negligence by offering you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement that means you will not need to pay your solicitor anything upfront or during the process of your claim for their work. Furthermore, you will not need to pay them for the services they have provided if your claim fails.
Should your claim succeed, your solicitor will take a success fee out of the compensation awarded to you. The percentage that this fee can be is legally limited.
To find out when you could pursue a civil claim against a housing association or to see if you are eligible to work with one of our solicitors, you can contact our advisory team. They can be reached via:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- Using our live chat.
- Completing our online claim form to arrange a free call back.
Useful Links
If you would like to find out more about successful disrepair claims where tenants were awarded the level of compensation they rightly deserved, please click on the link below:
Our guide to making a claim for a faulty heater or boiler in a rented property.
Past Successful Disrepair Claims in the UK
To find out more about taking action against a landlord because they let your rented home fall into disrepair, please click on the link below:
Taking action because of housing disrepair
If you would need to know more about how to file a personal injury claim, the link below provides valuable information on the subject:
How to file a personal injury claim
The article below offers essential information on No Win No Fee structures explaining how you won’t have to pay your lawyer’s legal fees unless they win your case:
No Win No Fee structures explained
Other claim guides related to housing:
- What Are Tenants Rights to Compensation If You Repaired Your Own Social Housing?
- A Guide To Housing Association Compensation For Improvements
Other personal injury claim guides you can read:
We hope that after reading this guide you now have a better understanding of housing association disrepair claims. If you still have any questions about these kinds of claims, you are welcome to contact our advisors using the contact details included in this guide.
