Solicitors for Tenant’s Rights

If you rent a home in the UK, you should get along well with your landlord and have a satisfactory lease in place that covers all you paid for. You should also be able to enjoy your tenancy to the fullest as laid out in that lease.

However, these scenarios don’t always happen. As experts in housing law, the tenant’s rights solicitors at Pearl Lemon Legal are aware that problems between tenants and landlords occur much more frequently than they ought to.

Housing issues like flooding and freezing conditions are only two of the numerous issues for which tenants can sue landlords. If your landlord neglects to make the required upkeep or repairs, you have the option of filing a lawsuit; if the required repairs are not made, an injunction may be obtained. When seeking mould compensation, many consumers turn to suing landlords.

According to the nonprofit organisation Shelter, some 2.5 million people in the UK are believed to reside in rented homes that are unfit for human habitation. The majority of these tenants are still making their full monthly payments and are unaware of how to proceed to get the problem fixed.

All of this is frequently linked to the 1985 regulation requiring local governments to look into and enforce laws governing problems with rented housing. Due to staffing shortages and financial constraints, many local governments found it difficult to enforce the laws. As a result, private landlords regularly neglected to maintain and repair their properties, leaving tenants to pick up the tab for a variety of repairs and live in inadequate housing.

The Fitness for Human Habitation Act modified the 1985 law and restored landlords’ whole responsibility for the homes they are renting out. At all times during the tenure, they are in charge of making sure the place is fit for its intended use and suitable for occupancy. This covers problems like ventilation, moisture, and cold that need more sophisticated solutions.

Despite the fact that these are some of the situations that our knowledgeable solicitors for tenant’s rights at Pearl Lemon come across most frequently, they are by no means the only ones for which you may want to consult with a solicitor for tenant’s rights.

What Motivates UK Tenants to Take Action Against Landlords?

A tenant may launch a lawsuit if their rights are abused or ignored by a landlord, who is now obligated to pay much closer attention to a number of issues. They include, but are not limited to, all of the things listed below.

If you’re unsure whether a problem you’re experiencing warrants taking legal action against your landlord, a housing solicitor at Pearl Lemon Legal should be able to explain your options:

Construction or structural work that has been put off and caused a structure to become unstable or in poor condition.
Spreading moisture, mould and fungus development
Issues with the supply of both hot and cold water.
Cooking or washing your hands properly is challenging in the kitchen, making the space unclean and unusable. A poorly draining sink, a lack of water, hazardous appliances, uneven flooring, and other factors could all contribute to this.
Serious plumbing concerns, such as leaks in basements or lofts or poor toilet or bath drainage.
Extreme temperatures brought on by malfunctioning heating systems.
Exposure to dangerous, illegal substances like asbestos exposure or carbon monoxide exposure
Gas appliances or gas pipes that are leaking.
Problems with basic security, including a back door or front door without a functional lock
bath or shower hazards, such as a shower floor that is fractured.
Electrical risks
Fire risks, including inadequate fire exits

Deposit Protection and Tenant's Rights

Additionally, tenants have the right to initiate a lawsuit against a landlord they believe did not properly protect their security deposit or is unjustly withholding its return.

If you have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy with a private landlord and have rented any type of property from them and your deposit is not returned to you, you might be qualified to make a no-fee claim for damages. If the deposit is not properly returned after the rental ends, you may additionally be qualified to make a claim for up to three times the initial deposit.

Within 30 days of receiving the security deposit you correctly provided at the start of your tenancy, your landlord must legally deposit it into one of three reputable deposit protection schemes. They cannot, under any circumstances, simply put it into their bank account as they do with regular rent payments.

Systems for collecting tenancy deposits that have received government approval are still in place to attempt and ensure that you’ll receive your money back when you;

Respect the guidelines listed in your lease.
Make sure you and your visitors haven’t caused any serious harm or damage to the property.
Have finished paying the rental amounts and any other expenses outlined in your formal lease.

If a landlord has not complied with their legal obligations to you, the tenant, things between them usually degenerate quickly. It is also not uncommon for a landlord to attempt to withhold the security deposit despite knowing (or at least being required to know) that you are entitled to a return if you have to vacate the property, by assuming that a tenant is ignorant of their legal rights.

You may want to file a claim in this situation to ensure that you receive the money you are due as well as, in some circumstances, an additional sum that is up to three times the original deposit amount. In reality, most landlords have lawyers who fight hard on their side; you, as a renter, should have the same. That will be handled by our tenant’s rights solicitors

What Defences Does a Landlord Have Legally?

Even though they might seem unfair, there are some things you simply cannot sue your landlord for. The purpose of the UK housing regulations is to safeguard both tenants and landlords. These are the most prevalent among them:

Any issues brought on by your actions as a renter, including any careless or erroneous conduct.
Unforeseen events, like a fire, flood, or natural calamity, over which your landlord has no control.
Any problems that you might have with furniture that the previous tenant left behind but wasn’t listed in the inventory when your lease first started.
In other circumstances, a landlord may have intended to carry out the repairs for you but been unable to do so due to opposition from other parties and the need for numerous planning approvals. Even though the other parties might not be, they are frequently protected from legal action in this circumstance.

How Can I Sue My Landlord?

The problems they experienced with their landlords were successfully handled for many tenants who used our tenant’s rights solicitors, just as they had hoped. Due to our staff’s expertise in both housing law and alternative conflict resolution, this is frequently feasible without the need to participate in a costly, time-consuming, and unpleasant court proceeding.

To improve the chances that any case you bring against your landlord will be successful, you must take the following actions:

The first step in fixing an issue in a rental property is always telling your landlord about it. In an ideal situation, they would consider your complaint seriously, fix the problem, and you wouldn’t even need the services of our tenant’s rights solicitors.

In order to determine the types of repairs that the landlord is responsible for and the window of time they have to do them, first check your leasing agreement or contract. Then, as they apply to your situation, perform these steps.

To make sure your landlord is aware of the problem(s), gather proof of the harm, the necessary fixes, or other problems, and provide photographs and full written narratives as needed.

Explain the matter in full to your landlord or letting agent. Despite the fact that it is preferable to put something in writing so that you have a record of it, it can also be done verbally. However, relying only on verbal communication could be misleading from a legal standpoint; as a result, the more written communication, the better.

Maintain copies of all communications, including emails, letters to your landlord, and texts. Any discussions you can only conduct verbally require you to keep a record of the date, time, and details of the communication.

Be sure to save the doctor’s paperwork if the property’s issues have made you sick or seen you get hurt. All receipts for additional medical costs you paid as a result of the illness or damage should be kept so that our tenant’s rights solicitors can determine if you can be compensated for these costs.

Be sure to save the receipts for everything you paid for in case you decide to do the repairs yourself out of necessity instead of waiting for your landlord to act, as you feel waiting would probably make the problem worse.

After taking these steps, consult a tenant rights solicitor, such as one of the Pearl Lemon Legal team’s expert tenant attorneys. If you do have a legal claim, they can give you advice on how to proceed, including if they can take on your case on a no-win, no-fee basis.

Contact Us

We'd love to hear from you!

For a free, no-obligation conversation about how we might be able to help with your current legal issues, please contact us today.