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Disrepair claims against social landlords are on the rise

A rise in opportunistic ‘claim-farming’ has led to a rise in successful disrepair claims against social landlords, but there are ways to reduce your vulnerability, says Rebecca Aspin

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Disrepair claims against social landlords are on the rise, by Rebecca Aspin #ukhousing

Croftons Solicitors has seen a large influx of housing clients coming to us in a state of despair about disrepair, as a result of these tenant lawyers targeting housing association tenants.

Our team has a current caseload of 97 ‘live’ disrepair cases, compared to just 27 this time last year, and, with payouts and legal costs totalling anywhere between £5,000 and £50,000 per case, the financial and reputational risks are significant.


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Increase in compensation claims for disrepairIncrease in compensation claims for disrepair

In a minority of cases, tenants are claiming as a last resort due to genuine disrepair, but the majority of claims begin with unscrupulous claim-farming tactics, common in the personal injury sector but now increasing in other legal areas.

“The majority of claims begin with unscrupulous claim-farming tactics.”

These methods – leaflet-dropping, cold-calling and social media advertising – are engaging tenants in increasing numbers, leading to the big rise in claims that we have experienced.

And claims stemming from these opportunistic sources only succeed due to lack of evidence making cases very hard to defend in court.

While little can be done to stop the claim-farmers, there are many preventative ‘in-house’ measures you can take to mitigate the risk of disrepair claims.

1. Keep good records

Poor record-keeping is the largest evidential failure for landlords and makes easy pickings for tenant lawyers.

“The tenant won’t let us in” or “we did carry out that repair” are irrelevant arguments without the evidence to back them up. I’ve dealt with many a frustrated landlord who cannot prove their case and has had to reluctantly pay compensation.

Recording systems must be comprehensive and used effectively, with all contact with each tenant being recorded. It’s also extremely important that a detailed record of every repair is taken – differentiating between similar repair jobs could be crucial to a successful defence.

2. Don’t over-commit

The Landlord and Tenant Act obliges landlords to keep their homes “in repair”, but tenancy agreements often bind housing associations beyond this statutory – and objective – remit.

“What is classed as good repair? The answer would be down to a judge in a courtroom.”

For example, a simple variance to keep a home in “good repair” binds landlords to a subjective standard of repair, and clarity of defence is immediately lost.

What is classed as good repair? The answer would be down to a judge in a courtroom, subsequently litigating with a high risk that either party could lose their arguments.

Changing existing tenancy agreements isn’t a quick job as tenant consultation is needed, but it’s the only sure-fire way of resolving this issue.

3. Fit-for-purpose policies

Many clients have policies and procedures that are inadequate for avoiding successful disrepair claims – access procedures being a prime example.

Landlord liability doesn’t stop because your tenant wasn’t there to let you in, but many housing associations operate on the basis that if a repair contractor makes one failed access attempt, they simply leave a calling card and the onus is on the tenant to rearrange.

This is insufficient, as it does not relieve the landlord of their legal duty to repair. Refusing access is a tenancy breach and should be legally enforced. If all else fails, seek an injunction.

4. Training and awareness

Much of this boils down to good housing management – but that requires co-ordination between and awareness across repairs, customer service and tenancy management teams.

It’s crucial to provide cross-departmental training on the issues surrounding disrepair, and preventative measures such as thorough record-keeping, logging customer contact and following policies and procedures accurately.

Only by patching up these operational weaknesses will landlords be better able to successfully defend unsubstantiated claims, and only compensate tenants who have genuinely been aggrieved.

Rebecca Aspin, solicitor, Croftons Solicitors

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