Repairs: tenants' rights

Repairs: tenants’ rights has long been recognised as an essential text for all housing advisers and lawyers dealing with disrepair and other adverse conditions affecting residents in rented housing accommodation.

It looks at the repairing obligations of all landlords in the social and private rented sectors, the remedies open to tenants to enforce their rights and the actions that can be taken to secure compensation for the loss and hardship suffered. It outlines the powers available to local councils to address adverse housing conditions using environmental, criminal and housing legislation; and covers a range of other issues such as infestations, hazards and absence of amenities.

The fifth edition includes:
• New emphasis on rights to repair in the private rented sector including commentary on retaliatory eviction, new requirements for all private landlords and use of law to clamp down on rogue landlords and tradesmen
• Extensive guidance on remedies for disrepair: withholding and setting off against rent, complaints procedures and the ombudsman, injunctions, pre-action protocol for disrepair and ADR
• up-to-date coverage of funding arrangements post-LASPO: scope, eligibility and merits test for legal aid and other means of financing disrepair claims including conditional fee arrangements and before-the-event insurance
• detailed coverage of case-law and recovery of damages for landlord’s breach of contract or tort including recent Court of Appeal case of Moorjani v Durban Estates Ltd where tenants not in occupation

Contents include:
contractual rights > rights beyond the contract > civil remedies for disrepair > funding > proceedings under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 > bad housing and the Housing Act 2004 > particular problems > damages > appendices: extracts from legislation, technical guidance and precedents

The highly experienced author team expertly outline the law and procedure in relation to disrepair in an accessible and practical way making this an indispensable resource for the non-lawyers and busy practitioner.
Repairs: tenants’ rights is essential reading for lawyers, advisers and tenants dealing with issues of disrepair, and also for providers of accommodation looking for a general guide to the law and practice relating to housing repair and conditions.