In her London home, a leak started to plague Mrs F’s day-to-day life. After Islington Council failed to complete repairs to the communal pipe that was damaging her bathroom, bedroom, and hallway, Mrs F decided to take matters into her own hands and solicit legal advice.
In early 2025, Mrs F noticed dampness in a storage cupboard under the stairs. Unfortunately, there was a leak which had started to trip the electrics.
Mrs F lived in a ground floor maisonette as a leaseholder. She reached out to the freeholder, Islington Council, to report the leak which had started to effect multiple rooms in the house. The Council then raised jobs to fix the leak. It was assessed at an early stage that the stack pipe serving in the WC was causing the disrepair. Despite this, they never followed through on making repairs.
During this period, Mrs F did not have access to her bathroom and was forced to shower in a local gym. She was told by Islington Council that the disrepair was her responsibility to fix. As leaseholders are responsible for internal damages, Mrs F had no choice but to seek remedy herself.
She then sourced a leak detection survey through Islington Council’s insurance. When these works came to light, she completed the recommended repairs with her own money. This included replacing her entire bathroom.
Unfortunately, the insurance company would not cover the costs of these works. Mrs F decided to take legal action against the freeholder and sought guidance from us at Pabla & Pabla.
How settlement was reached over the leak
Fee earner in our Housing Disrepair department, Alasdair Richards, took on Mrs F’s claim. Even after Mrs F completed the works recommended in the original survey, a further expert report revealed £6,000 more worth of damage in the bathroom, bedroom, and hallway.
It was revealed that the leak was coming from a communal pipe and was not Mrs F’s responsibility to remedy. Despite this, Mrs F had undertaken repairs herself and could provide invoices for the works completed.
Alasdair wrote to Islington Council who, bafflingly, decided to offer compensation in the grand sum of £75. They assessed this as £25 for poor communication, £25 for delayed follow-on appointment, and £25 for inconvenience. £75 was grossly below what Mrs F was entitled to. So, Alasdair advised Mrs F to reject this and instead entered formal negotiations with Islington Council.
A settlement of £16,000 was eventually reached (£15,925 more than the freeholder originally offered). This included all recommended works to be completed on the leaking pipe. The money helped Mrs F cover what she had already spent to bring her home back into repair, whilst also holding the freeholder accountable for their failures to uphold their repair obligations.
Claiming for Housing Disrepair as a leaseholder
At Pabla & Pabla, our team has extensive experience supporting leaseholders to bring Housing Disrepair claims. With our expertise in case law surrounding these claims, we are more than confident that we can support you if the freeholder has breached their repair obligations.
Freeholders can be dismissive of their lessees when it comes to complicated repairs – which is why we would recommend seeking legal advice before spending money on repairs. We are more than happy to provide a free, no-commitment consultation on your living situation.
Please give us a call on 0161 446 1122 or email us on housingdisrepair@pablasolicitors.co.uk.
Begin your Housing Disrepair claim
If your landlord refuses to make repairs to your home, then we can seek a court order on your behalf that forces them to address the issues, and give you compensation.More Housing Disrepair stories:
