Landlord breached their
repair agreement?
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For most housing disrepair solicitors, a case ends once the defending landlord agrees to make the repairs and the solicitor’s fee is paid. If the landlord then breaches their agreement to make repairs, tenants are left alone and without legal support, essentially leaving them back at square one.
The Brief Claims’ dedicated Repair Breach team was created to hold landlords accountable and ensure repairs are completed on time and to a reasonable standard – even for tenants who initially claimed via a different solicitor.
If you have previously claimed against your landlord but they are still failing to do the repairs that they have agreed to or which they have been ordered to make, then we can help.
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The Brief Claims repair breach department was created to offer continued support to our many housing disrepair clients who were still left struggling to get their landlord to carry out repairs even after successfully taking legal action.
Housing disrepair is an ongoing and harmful failing on the part of landlords who all too often would rather pay a one-off fee rather than make the lasting and effective improvements to the lives of their tenants they are obligated to by law.
While it’s our hope that repairs will be completed to a good standard, as quickly as possible, in reality, we know that this often isn’t the case. Without active legal pressure, many successful housing disrepair cases ultimately fail to result in repairs.
Each time a landlord fails to complete repairs promised to our clients by the agreed date, we can consider a breach of contract claim and seek further compensation, until finally, they realise that they need to get the repairs completed to avoid having to pay more and more in compensation and costs. To date, our highest number of successful breach claims against a single landlord in a single case is 6 breach claims, with our client receiving compensation of £5,750.00 for the delays, on top of the £5,000.00 recovered for the initial housing disrepair claim.
You can bring a claim against your landlord once the deadline for completion, either via a settlement agreement or a court order, has lapsed.
While similar to a housing disrepair claim on the face of things, a repair breach claim is actually a claim for breach of contract. If your landlord has committed to making repairs, either once you have involved a solicitor, or if ordered by the court, but still fails to do so by the agreed-upon date or to an agreed-upon standard, then you may be able to claim for breach of contract against your landlord.
In order to determine the quality of your case, we ask for recent photographs and/or videos of all the outstanding disrepair along with your settlement agreement or an agreed schedule of works noting your landlord’s initial commitment.
Yes, a repair breach claim is different to a housing disrepair claim.
While the objective of both claim types is to ensure a landlord finally makes the much-needed repairs to a client’s property, the way this is done is different.
A housing disrepair claim is brought against a landlord who has failed to make repairs despite being asked by the tenant. The aim is to either convince or compel the landlord to make the repairs that they are legally obliged to make in order to offer safe and suitable housing.
A repair breach claim on the other hand is a breach of contract claim which can only occur after the landlord has already either agreed to make the repairs, or been ordered to by the court. The breach of contract occurs when the landlord fails to do so within the agreed timeframe or to the agreed standard.
Repair breach claims often follow on from a housing disrepair claim. At The Brief Claims, many of our housing disrepair claims are automatically converted to repair breach claims in order to ensure that our clients receive the repairs they have been promised by their landlords.
If your landlord agreed to carry out repairs to your property, either by signing an agreement or being ordered by the court, then your landlord must stick to the terms.
In some cases, landlords may attempt to cut the cost of repairs by using substandard tools or methods such as painting over a damp wall or scraping off the mould, rather than addressing the cause of the dampness.
This substandard work is also likely to mean that further work is needed in future and that the landlord is simply making a bigger job for themselves in the long run.
If your landlord has shown a willingness to make the repairs within the stated timeframe then it will be difficult to prove that they have breached their agreement, regardless of whether the time of the repairs is agreeable to you.
In cases like this, we would struggle to prove that the landlord has breached their duty.
No, we work on a no-win, no-fee basis, meaning you have nothing to pay unless your case is successful, and any success fee is deducted from your compensation. Our success fee is capped to a maximum of 25% of the damages you obtain.
Repair breach cases continue until your landlord finally makes the repairs they have agreed to make. While some cases can resolve quickly, others can take some time and involve multiple breaches, with compensation paid out for each breach.
We also offer free initial, no-obligation advice so you have nothing to lose by getting in touch with one of our friendly advisors today. We can start working on your case as soon as you formally instruct us, and our paperwork has been signed. Additionally, you have a 14-day cooling-off period, after you’ve signed our initial documents if you change your mind.
