68 year-old Woman Wins
£20,500 Settlement Against Sanctuary Housing Association Due to Severe Damp and Mould

by Tillie Dawson

Our 68-year-old client, SF, started her claim with us in late 2022, with the hope of holding her landlord, Sanctuary Housing Association, accountable for the disrepair that her home had fell in to, due to their lack of response to her complaints. She had raised the issues with Sanctuary Housing Association since 2019 and after 3 years of complaining, she was left discouraged after no action was taken by her landlord to fix the disrepair. Our poorly served client was a perfect tenant, always paying her rent on time and never causing disruptions, yet Sanctuary Housing Association chose to ignore her complaints. This is an obvious breach of Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

 

The hazards in her home included severe damp and mould in almost every room in her house, including inside of her cupboards. This disrepair cost over £13,000 to put right. The spreading of the mould to every single room of her home was extremely distressing for our client, with no escape from the impacts of the damp and mould. It was inescapable for her. Shocking!

 

As we know, significant damp and mould can be detrimental to a person’s physical health, with predominant impact on the airways and lungs. As well as this, this irritant taking over your home can impact your mental health, with a desperation for the disrepair to be fixed in order to enjoy being in your home. Our client suffers from medical vulnerability and the unsanitary conditions she was living in was causing unnecessary distress due to her landlord’s negligence.

 

After a dispute with Sanctuary Housing Association and their legal representative to get SF the schedule of works and compensation she deserved, our solicitor Sherette Grove was able to get a significant £20,500 settlement for our client to finally be able to be comfortable in her own home as well as receive a settlement to ease the distress of the disrepair. SF has stated how happy she is with this result and the hard work of our team: “thank you for all your hard work in helping me to get the best results”.

 

This successful settlement is what we hope to achieve for all of our clients in order to grant them the home and compensation that they have earned through years of stress and disrepair. If you are suffering from a similar issue, feel free to contact our housing disrepair department for advice, support and the best results for you.