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Tenant awarded £3,500 from London council following damp and mould complaint
A tenant of a south London council has secured a £3,500 settlement after living with poor conditions, including damp and mould.
The settlement comes more than two years after the tenant, who lives in a four-bedroom flat in Streatham, first made a complaint to Lambeth Council about the poor conditions.
A survey of the resident’s property found evidence of damp and mould in three bedrooms, as well as the hallway, kitchen and bathrooms, the tenant’s solicitor said.
Evidence of water damage was uncovered in the hallway, while a broken extractor fan in the bathroom left the room with ventilation, they added.
This is the second time the resident made a housing claim against the London borough due to “recurring issues”.
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“It is completely unacceptable that anyone should be living with disrepair of this kind, especially for a prolonged period of time after they’ve complained to the landlord initially. To be ignored is stressful and leaves the tenant with no option but to seek legal advice,” said Larissa Ellis, head of the housing department at High Street Solicitors, which represented the tenant.
A council spokesperson said the estate is in a conservation area, which creates challenges for repairs and maintenance.
They added: “The council has worked with residents on the estate over a number of years to identify the best way of maintaining their homes to the highest standard possible. We apologise for any inconvenience experienced by any tenant. We are committed to investigating problems reported to us and resolving them as quickly as we can.”
Conditions in social housing have come under scrutiny in recent months, largely because of a series of high-profile investigations by ITV News.
Earlier this month, new housing secretary Michael Gove said the quality of social housing in England is “scandalously poor” when asked about the topic at the Conservative Party conference.
Lambeth Council has invested “hundreds of millions of pounds” in improving its housing in recent years, the spokesperson added.
