When you and your family live at a property with housing disrepair issues, your health, safety, and life could be in jeopardy. You count on your landlord to provide you with habitable premises, regardless of whether it is private or social housing. You never expect that someone you were trusting could put your health and safety in danger. You could be entitled to financial compensation under UK law if you face housing disrepair. You should contact a housing disrepair solicitor to learn if you can take legal action.
Housing Disrepair Can Compromise Your Physical Safety
One of the first dangers is to the resident’s physical safety. Poorly maintained flats are a fire risk. In addition, a resident could fall in the stairwell or trip in a parking lot in poor shape. Your day-to-day life could be complicated by safety issues at your housing unit. Properties that are in disrepair have a much higher rate of accidents. From fall accidents to ceiling collapses your physical safety can be compromised by the disrepair.
Disrepair Is a Danger to Your Health
Your health could also be jeopardized by housing disrepair. Conditions inside social housing can make you ill, or the letting agent may not properly maintain a stove or heater, which could increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Housing disrepair could be dangerous to you based on your personal health situation. For example, you could be living with asthma. The mould and mildew in the premises could aggravate your condition and make it even more difficult for you to breathe. You could have severe allergies aggravated by the air quality in the flat.
Another danger is when the housing unit is not adequately heated in the winter. You could develop severe illness or even be at risk of freezing because of the lack of heat.
Hazardous substances on the premises could also cause several other health conditions, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. The higher the level of dangerous substances at the property, the more serious your health complications could become.
Your Landlord or Housing Association Must Fix the Condition
When there is housing disrepair, it is a condition that the letting agent or housing association has a legal responsibility to fix. Not only would you be denied the enjoyment of your home, but you can even be at risk of injuries. You can hold the landlord legally responsible for what they are doing or not doing. You should immediately request a repair, and the landlord needs to make the repair within a reasonable amount of time. You should always save documentation of the repair request in case you later file a claim. You could be paid for the damage that the housing disrepair did to your health.
Our Liverpool Housing Disrepair Solicitors at Bingham Long Can Take Action on Your Behalf
If your landlord or housing association is not acting to repair your housing unit within a reasonable time, you should contact our Liverpool housing disrepair solicitors at Bingham Long to file a case. We help residents take legal action when their landlords break the law. You could receive compensation for the harm that you have suffered. Call 0151-318-6444 or complete our online form for a free initial consultation. Located in Liverpool, Wallasey, and Birkenhead, we serve clients throughout Merseyside County.
