Council increases fund to cope with tenants’ legal actions over disrepair
Birmingham council has been forced to set aside £4.7m to cope with the spiralling number of compensation claims from tenants whose properties have fallen into disrepair.
The sum is almost 10% up on last year, when the council paid out £4.3m in compensation and legal costs for 2170 successful claims.
This equates to just under £2000 for each claimant. The council also has to pay for the actual repairs.
Birmingham has a backlog of more than 900 repairs that involved claims for compensation . It had 1750 outstanding disrepair claims when figures were last collected in April. It is likely the number of claims has since increased.
A council scrutiny committee report published last Monday blamed ageing properties and a lengthy repairs backlog for the growing crisis. Birmingham has been working to clear an overall backlog of 57,000 repairs since the Audit Commission put the council under supervision last year for receiving a no-stars inspection rating for the second time in two years (HT 16 July, page 30).
Under council guidelines, tenants must wait up to six months for non-urgent repairs. This was extended from 60 working days in 2002.
However, disgruntled tenants with badly leaking roofs or broken windows have claimed compensation because their repairs had worsened during the six-month waiting period and the council had failed to take action.
The report also cited a growing number of law firms operating in the city offering no-win, no-fee arrangements. Tenants are apparently using the firms to fund disrepair actions.
A committee spokeswoman said: “Birmingham council is the largest English social landlord and we have a high proportion of ageing Victorian properties, far higher than other areas. This in itself creates repair problems.
“Law firms from as far away as Wales have been taking advantage of the situation and touting for business among tenants.
“We are greatly concerned about the disrepair figures and no longer think that it is acceptable to have a 26-week waiting list for minor repairs – especially as this is aiding the touts. An action plan [due 19 October] is now being developed to tackle the situation.”
John Lines, cabinet member for housing, said: “We inherited a large number of claims that have built up over a number of years and we can’t fix this overnight.”
“Unscrupulous law firms are taking advantage of the situation and have hits us hard. But we are working closely with litigation officers and we are fighting back.”
Source
Housing Today
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