The disrepair in this client’s home was not a single issue – it was a catalogue of serious problems that had been left to worsen over time.

• There was a hole in the kitchen wall large enough for rats to enter the property. Despite being reported, it was never
• The floor throughout the property was rotting – the result of persistent, untreated
• Both the kitchen sink and the toilet were
• Cracked tiles were visible throughout the property, presenting a safety hazard as well as evidence of ongoing structural neglect.

She reported every one of these problems to her landlord – not once, but again and again. Each time, she was ignored. She was left living in a home that was not safe, not healthy, and by any reasonable measure, not fit for human habitation.

Living like this takes a real toll – on your health, your mental wellbeing, and your ability to feel at home in your own space. What many tenants do not realise is that when a landlord refuses to act on reported disrepair, they are likely breaking the law.

The problems in this property began with a ceiling that would not stop leaking. Water came through so consistently that the plaster above never had the chance to dry out properly. Over time, that trapped moisture created the ideal conditions for damp to take hold – and then mould began to appear.

The mould spread to the walls and ceilings of the rooms the children slept in. Mould in a bedroom is not just unpleasant – as we explain below, it carries real health risks, particularly for children.

At the same time, the property had separate problems with its electrics. Light fittings were broken, and electrical faults made parts of the home genuinely unsafe to use. These were not cosmetic issues – they were safety hazards.

She reported all of it. Countless times. Her landlord did nothing.

While they did nothing, her children were suffering recurring sore throats and illness – a mother watching her children become unwell in their own home, being repeatedly fobbed off and ignored.

The disrepair in this client’s home centred on her hallway. Damp had taken hold throughout the space, and mould had followed – the visible, unmistakable kind that spreads across walls and makes a home feel unhealthy the moment you step through the front door.

The root cause was water ingress: every time it rained, water was getting into the property and making the problem worse. This was not a one-off leak that dried out quickly. It was an ongoing, worsening situation that was causing real damage to the property and real disruption to the life of the person living in it.

She reported it to her landlord. Time and time again. And was ignored every single time.

She did not think it was catastrophic enough to take further. She was not living with rats in the kitchen or mould across the bedrooms – it was “just” the hallway, “just” damp, “just” a leak when it rained. So she put up with it. Meanwhile, the landlord’s failure to act meant the problem quietly carried on.

This is a question worth understanding, because it explains why early action matters so much in housing disrepair cases involving damp and mould.

In this property, damp and mould first appeared around one window frame. It was noticeable, it was reported, and it was ignored. Without any intervention to address the underlying moisture problem, mould did exactly what it does when left alone in warm, damp conditions – it spread.

By the time our client came to us, the picture was this:

• Damp and mould covered both walls of the hallway, top to bottom
• It had crept around all of the windows in the affected areas
• It had spread into the lounge
• It had got into her furniture – including a chest of drawers
• The damp was so severe that paint was peeling from the walls

 All of this was the result of a problem that, had the landlord acted when first told, would have been far smaller – and far cheaper –  to deal with. Disrepair does not stay still. The longer a landlord ignores it, the worse it becomes.