Green light for disrepair claims? – The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

Published 20 mayo 2019

The Homes Act 2018 which came into force two months ago has far reaching consequences for all providers of social housing.

Living in substandard accommodation can have a significant impact on the health of tenants, and the cost of remedying defects and compensating tenants, and damage to the reputation of landlords can be great.  Recent television documentaries and press articles have raised the question of whether some social housing is of a suitable standard, and in October 2018 a government report noted that, whilst the majority of public sector homes in England met the standards set by reference to the Decent Homes Standard, 13% did not.  

Many of the health conditions caused by poor housing can have long terms effects, impacting on a resident’s ability to work.  Where those affected by the poor housing are children the full extent of the injury suffered or claimed, which may include a reduction in educational attainment or mental health issues, may not be known for several years; claims presented may not be able to be resolved until the child has reached the age of 18. 

In order to assist an improvement in the quality of housing stock, the government passed the The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (“the Homes Act”) which came in to force on 20 March 2019;  amending the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the Act includes an implied covenant to residential leases that a home let must be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and must remain so during throughout the duration of the tenancy (s.9A(1)).

The Homes Act supplements the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Defective Premises Act 1972 and breaches of the Homes Act may found claims for remedy of the defect and for damages.

How should you respond?

Whilst resources for extra works are likely to be very tight, this is a potentially far reaching change and we would suggest that some form of assessment of existing housing provision and plans  is essential to identify the most urgently needed works on a risk management basis.  

DACB has an industry leading team of lawyers with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in handling claims resulting from housing conditions.  This level of expertise enables us to draw on our experience from previous cases to assess the merits of each case. We regularly use leading engineering and medical experts, working in partnership with them to get results quickly for our clients, minimising the cost of claims and negative publicity.

Our disease team deals with a wide variety of  cases on a regular basis. For more information or advice, please contact one of our experts.