MJV Solicitors & Cancer Research UK – our partnership & membership of the CRUK Free Will Service
MJV Solicitors are proud partners of Cancer Research UK and have been a member of their Free Will Service since 2023. MJV Solicitors have helped clients write their Will for free and the pledged gifts in these Wills for Cancer Research UK.
Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen cancer survival in the UK double in the last 50 years. Gifts in Wills fund a third of the charity’s research and have helped make this possible. Whether people pledge a gift in their Will in dedication to someone who has survived or in tribute to loved one’s they’ve lost to cancer, their gift will help Cancer Research UK to fund new discoveries and find new ways to outsmart the disease.
Cancer Research UK wants to accelerate progress and see 3 in 4 people surviving their cancer by 2034 and gifts in Wills are critical to that progress.
We offer the Cancer Research UK Free Will Service to anyone aged 18+ to easily write or update a simple Will for free. The service is available all year round. Most people who use the service leave a gift in their will to Cancer Research UK, although there is no obligation to do so.
MJV Solicitors are ready to help you put your Will in place through the Free Will Service and guide you in your consideration of leaving a gift in your Will to Cancer Research UK, after your loved ones have been taken care of.
The work that Cancer Research UK does and the progress that is being made means that more people will survive their cancer diagnosis in the future, more people will celebrate more occasions with their loved ones and more people will receive kinder, more effective treatments.
For more information about the Cancer Research UK Free Will Service please contact MJV Solicitorson 01253 858231 and ask to speak to Courtney Leach or visit cruk.org/freewillservice
by Jane Willacey
Write your Will for free with us via the Alzheimer’s free Will service and discover how you can make a difference when you leave a gift to Alzheimer’s society.
For more information contact our team here at MJV Solicitors on 01253 858231 or email us at info@mjvlaw.co.uk
We are delighted to announce that we now offer a free will service through the National Free Wills Network. The purpose of the Network is to offer a free Will in the hope that supporters will leave a gift to a chosen charity in their Will. More information can be found on the National Free Wills Network website www.nationalfreewills.net
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly team here at MJV Solicitors on 01253 858231 or email us at info@mjvlaw.co.uk
by MJV&Co
There are some cases where Councils and Housing Associations are able to legitimately argue that they have acted reasonably, but this was not one of them. Our client endured an internal leak for 5 years before an internal ceiling collapsed. His landlord then failed to repair the resulting damage for another 2 years.
Internal leak
In 2013, our client noticed that there was a wet patch forming on the ceiling of a downstairs toilet. He tried to clean it, but this did not work and so he reported it to his landlord.
They investigated and claimed that there was not a problem for which they were responsible.
The damp got worse and it became clear to our client that there was a leak coming from somewhere within the property. He reported this numerous times, but his landlord continued to deny liability.
In late 2018, the ceiling of the downstairs toilet collapsed. Our client reported this as an emergency and, five years after first reporting the problem and being told that it was not his landlord’s issue, the inspector undertook a proper investigation and concurred with our client. There was an internal leak and there had been for, at least, five years.
Work was undertaken and the leak was fixed.
Making Good
Following a repair, there is often damage. This can be to flooring, plaster and so forth. Repairing this resulting damage is known as ‘making good’ and what is required varies case by case.
In this matter, the ceiling in the downstairs toilet had collapsed and there was wider water damage to that room and the rooms around it. It fell under the landlord’s repairing obligations to make the damage good and to decorate.
Having repaired the leak, the landlord’s agent confirmed that someone would be back to make good. Having heard nothing for some time, our client called his landlord and asked that the work be undertaken as soon as possible. Unfortunately, nobody came.
Our client continued to report the problems he had been left with, but his landlord missed appointments to inspect the problem or failed to even agree to send someone.
Our Instructions
Our client contacted us for help and we agreed to bring his claim on a no win no fee basis.
We presented the claim to his landlord and they undertook an inspection. They admitted their breaches of their repairing obligations and agreed to undertake certain repairs. We advised our client that we were unhappy with what they were proposing and so we sent our own expert to carry out an inspection.
He agreed with our client. His landlord’s Schedule of Works was inadequate and he provided his own, which was far more comprehensive.
Following an exchange of views with his landlord, faced with the threat of court proceedings if they failed to agree to our proposal, they agreed to carry out our expert’s advised course of action. They completed those works, returning the client’s home to the condition it should always have been in.
Compensation
We were able to settle the claim for £2,800. Despite the problem going on for around 7 years, the rent at the property was low.
For more information on how compensation is generally calculated, read our article on this subject: https://www.mjvlaw.co.uk/legal-news/housing-disrepair-compensation/
The most important thing with any claim is ensuring that our client’s home is returned to a good condition. However, compensation for the inconvenience, distress and displeasure caused by an issue such as living with a collapsed ceiling, is a close second.
by MJV&Co
We are often asked by clients how much compensation they will receive if their claim succeeds.
Unlike personal injury claims, where the Judicial College Guidelines serve as a guide, there is no such tool in housing disrepair claims.
General Damages / Compensation
General damages are more commonly referred to as compensation. They serve to compensate the tenant for the inconvenience, discomfort and distressed caused to them through their landlord’s breach of their repairing obligations.
The most commonly used method of assessing damages is as a reduction in the rental value of the property.
Take a property was comprised of 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 living room and 1 kitchen. If it was let for £100 per week and the disrepair complained of materially affected 1 of the bedrooms, the bathroom and the living room, it would affect 50% of the rooms. Using a very simplistic approach, that would mean the compensation would be £50 per week, being half of the £100 per week rent.
This is paid for the period from when a reasonable landlord would have completed the repairs to the date the landlord of our client did so.
If, in this example, the landlord undertook the repairs 50 weeks after they should have, the tenant would receive compensation of £2,500.
Special Damages
Special damages can be considered your out of pocket expenses. You are entitled to recover any money that you have paid as a result of the problems for which your landlord was responsible.
There is no finite list of these, but you must be able to prove your loss and so receipts should always be kept.
Examples of Special Damages in Housing Disrepair Claims
Cleaning costs;
Loss of earnings (such as if you have had to take time off work to meet the landlord’s agents and they have not attended the appointment);
Additional heating costs or the costs of a dehumidifier when trying to dry out the property;
The cost of alternative accommodation if your property was uninhabitable for any time;
The cost of repair, cleaning and redecoration (provided these are costs incurred personally and the work was not undertaken at the landlord’s expense);
Travel costs;
Medical costs; or
The cost of dining out (such as if food storage or cooking facilities have been damaged).
by MJV&Co
Background – Damp and Mould
Our client moved into a new home in August 2017. Shortly afterwards she noticed damp and mould in the bathroom and reported this to her landlord.
As is often the case, she was told to clean it herself and no inspection was undertaken.
Over the next few months, the problem spread to the hallway, living room and two bedrooms. She reported the problems again, but no inspection was carried out. At a routine inspection, she pointed out the problems and the surveyor agreed that there was a problem that necessitated further enquiries. However, it still took several months for someone to attend the property.
Inadequate repairs – Damp and mould
Eventually, her landlord’s agent attended the property and inspected the damp. They removed the plaster from the walls and applied a treatment to prevent the damp returning in the hallway and living room. However, he did nothing to treat the issues in the bathroom and bedrooms.
Our client contacted her landlord again to request that they send someone back to solve the problems in the other rooms, but they failed to do so.
Claim
Our client contacted us in September 2019. We agreed to help her on a no win no fee basis.
Such claims have rules for how they are to be conducted and having followed these, we instructed an expert surveyor who attended the property to carry out a joint inspection with a surveyor on behalf of her landlord.
At the inspection, the cause of the disrepair was identified. There was a concrete slab that was acting as a bridge for water to pass onto the plaster causing the damp and mould. The correct repairs were agreed between the surveyors and our client’s landlord arranged for these works to be completed within a few weeks of the inspection.
In addition to having her home repaired and decorated where required, our client’s claim settled for more than £1,000 in compensation.
by MJV&Co
The COVID-19 pandemic affects everybody. Whether you or someone you know is infected with the virus or not, it will have an impact on your life in some way. That could be on your job, your income, your health or simply your inability to leave the house.
It will, of course, have an effect upon landlords and tenants.
New issues
If you are living in a property and you encounter a problem, you should report this to your landlord in the usual way.
Most councils and housing associations continue to function albeit with some staff being furloughed and or working from home meaning that their ability to respond is reduced. As always, we recommend reporting any issues by telephone but following this up with an e-mail. This way, you have a written record of you reporting the issue. Some landlords fail to keep full records and this causes our clients problems where they cannot prove that an issue has been reported.
If the issue is urgent, such as a leak of some sort, or it could pose a threat to the health and safety of anybody in the property, your landlord is still able to undertake an inspection despite the restrictions on movement. This is because them carrying out an inspection and then undertaking repairs is urgent and thus essential.
If the issue is not urgent or a threat to health and safety, it is likely that your landlord will not carry out an inspection until the restrictions have been lifted.
Reasonable time
Your landlord is required to carry out any repairs within a reasonable time.
In normal times, this involves them carrying out an inspection, normally we would expect this to take place within a week, and, having identified the problem, repair it promptly. We would expect, depending on the level of urgency, this to take place within around 28 days of the date that the issue was first reported. This is not set in stone and is only intended to be a general guide.
As non-urgent inspections are not currently possible, the clock for what can be considered reasonable cannot be considered to be ticking. Instead, that clock will start once the restrictions that are preventing inspections in housing disrepair claims are lifted.
Existing issues
Where disrepair was reported to a landlord prior to the restrictions being put in place, it will depend on when the issues were reported as to whether the reasonable period can be considered to be paused or ongoing.
For example, if you reported an issue in January and your landlord has not carried out an inspection or undertaken the repairs, it is quite clear that they had failed the reasonableness test before the restrictions were put in place on 23 March 2020. In these circumstances, a reasonable landlord would have undertaken and completed the work long before COVID-19 caused the lock down and so, despite the restrictions, the current time would count towards the relevant period for the purposes of housing disrepair compensation claims.
If, however, it was reported just a few days before 23 March 2020, it is likely that a landlord would be able to plead that they did not have a reasonable opportunity to undertake an inspection prior to lock down.
Claims
At MJV Solicitors, we remain open for business. Like all responsible businesses in our industry, our office is closed but our key staff are working from home and contactable in the usual ways.
We are still helping clients with their housing disrepair claims. There are delays to all cases where we are not yet in receipt of an expert witness surveyor’s report, but we will resolve this as soon as it is considered safe to instruct a surveyor to attend other people’s homes.
If you believe you may have a housing disrepair claim against a landlord who is a housing association or council, there is no benefit in waiting to present the claim. Landlords are entitled to a period of 20 working days or roughly four weeks to respond to a letter of claim and so, hopefully, the COVID-19 pandemic will be under control by then enabling us to instruct an expert while followig whatever regulations are in force at that time regarding social distancing.
Call us today on 01253 858231 or e-mail michael.vincent@mjvlaw.co.uk if you would like to know more.
by MJV&Co
Our client approached us because she had been complaining to her landlord for around six months.
Her home suffered from various problems:
The plaster in many rooms was cracked and falling away from the walls;
There were cracks around several windows;
Some of the windows had failed and the seals had degraded causing drafts and leaks;
There were issues with mould, damp and condensation;
The toilet was broken; and
There were cracked and damaged tiles in the kitchen.
Landlord’s Failure
As is often so, her landlord inspected her property but did nothing else. They made promises that they did not keep and did not undertake any repairs as they should have.
Our Involvement
Our client grew frustrated at the conditions she was living in and instructed us to help her. We did so on a no win no fee basis as we do with all the housing disrepair clients whose claims we accept.
We presented the claim to her landlord and started the process as soon as she had completed her paperwork.
Sadly, her landlord ignored us as well. We instructed one of the country’s leading housing disrepair surveyors who inspected the property and produced a report. This confirmed that there was substantial disrepair that was the landlord’s responsibility. Once they received the report, they initially denied any wrong doing, but using our expertise and experience, we were able to prove them wrong.
Settlement
We were able to negotiate an agreement that our client was happy with. She was well compensated and now lives in a home free from damp, falling plaster and other disrepair that no tenant should have to endure
Your Claim
If you recognise any of the problems discussed in this housing disrepair case study and are the tenant in a council or housing association property, call us today on 01253 858231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk for your no obligation consultation.
We offer a no win no fee service and are experts in our field.
by MJV&Co
Our clients approached us as they had a hole in their roof. It was allowing water to pour into their home causing damage and disrepair. They believed there was also penetrating damp as the upstairs bedrooms suffered from black mould. As is always so, this also caused stress, anxiety and general upset.
We submitted their claim and their landlord denied any responsibility. They claimed that they had carried out their own inspection, which had revealed there was no such problem.
Inspections
Landlords often use their own employees to carry out their inspections. At MJV Solicitors, we instruct one of the UK’s finest and most reputable inspection companies to carry out an independent assessment. Their inspection revealed that our clients suspicions about the roof had been incorrect.
The roof was in good condition and there were no leaks or holes.
The mould in the bedrooms was caused by the extractor fan in the bathroom not working. This meant that, instead of being extracted away from the property, cold and damp air was allowed to circulate upstairs.
Penetrating damp was identified as were problems with the electrics that our clients had complained of.
A thorough inspection revealed more disrepair that is the landlord’s responsibility than our clients had been aware of and this included:
an uneven path that posed a tripping hazard;
a loose radiator;
defective windows; and
a loose window trim and surrounding plaster
Settlement
Having proven that there was disrepair for which the landlord was responsible, we were able to settle the claim on behalf of our clients.
The problems at the property first presented themselves around 6-9 months before the case settled and we were able to negotiate compensation for our clients that they were very happy with. We also required their landlord to accept responsibility and to undertake all the repairs required by our expert.
Once the claim had settled, our clients had the home they deserved and compensation they were happy with.
Your Claim
If you live in a property that is let to you by a housing association or council and they have not undertaken repairs they should have, we will be able to help you too.
We offer a no win no fee service and a no obligation claim consultation.
Call us today on 01253 858231 or send your details to matthew.vincent@mjvlaw.co.uk and we will contact you as soon as possible.
by MJV&Co
Over recent years the government has made traditional “buy to let” investments more challenging. They have:
-banned compulsory tenant fees;
-introduced tax reforms that eat into profit;
-proposed a ban on non-fault, Section 21 evictions; and
-increased stamp duty on all BTL purchases.
The result is that investors, especially those buying with a mortgage, have found it difficult to make a profit. Many are leaving the market.
We have seen a significant increase in enquiries from new and existing clients about serviced accommodation. These are short term lets of a few days to a few weeks. They are commonly marketed through Air BnB and similar websites. They offer increased average daily rents without the same obligations that normal buy to let landlord has. There is more day to day management and bookings, cleaning, repairing and maintaining the properties are required more regularly.
Before entering the market, clients should consider:
Time: do you have the time to devote to the project or do you have the staff to do so?
Lease or Purchase: many of our clients are taking longer leases of multiple flats on commercial terms and then sub-letting as serviced accommodation. There is less risk than when buying, but also less reward. However, such a lease arrangement is likely to avoid stamp duty.
Business Rates or Council Tax: especially when multiple properties are being let, it may be beneficial to apply for a change of use. If your business owns only one property with a low rateable value it could be that you qualify for small business rates relief. It is important to take specialist legal and financial advice before completing any such transaction as the deal could be structured in a way that saves thousands. A useful guide on the issue is found here https://www.thesapodcast.com/03-planning-use-class/
Restrictive covenants: many properties have restrictions on how they can be used. It is essential that these are investigated properly before being bound to proceed.
There is much more to know and discuss and this article is intended as an introduction to the issues rather than advice upon them.
For specialist legal advice on the serviced accommodation sector, call us today on 01253 858231 to arrange your free 30 minute consultation or e-mail michael.vincent@mjvlaw.co.uk
