Comfortable Christmas: Housing Disrepairs & Cracked Walls

No one deserves to suffer from housing disrepairs during the Christmas season. We are already worried about Covid-19 and the impact it is going to have on the holiday season. So, having your house break on you is only going to make your stress worse. Cracked walls can potentially let in the cold and all sorts of vermin that can spread disease to you and your family. You may also find that the crack will get worse during winter weather due to the cold and wet. That’s why it’s crucial that your landlord sorts out the issues as soon as possible.

If your landlord refuses to help, it’s time for you to make a Housing Disrepair Claim. You can take control of the disrepairs in your home and make sure they get fixed quickly. Gowing Law Solicitors can help you. Find out more by calling our law firm on 0800 041 8350 or by visiting our website below:

What do I need to know about Housing Disrepairs?

There are lots of different types of housing disrepairs that can affect the structure and integrity of your home. Some disrepairs are worse than others and can affect your family in a variety of ways. With that said, your landlord is responsible for any external & internal structures, as well as any essential equipment that is within your home. You are the tenant, therefore, the upkeep of the building is out of your hands. Although you do have to play your part to keep it clean and tidy, and you need to act sensibly to ensure that there is no damage to the building or your home.

If a disrepair does occur in your house, it’s important that your landlord does try get it fixed as quickly as possible. You should give them notice to get the disrepairs fixed. This means they need a bit of time to get them sorted out. Usually, this is a month. Make sure to let them know about the disrepair in writing and through electronic communication. That way you will have evidence to prove that you did try to alert your landlord to the disrepair if they ignore you.

In a perfect world, your landlord would get the disrepairs sorted out as fast as possible. However, there are times where your landlord may act negligently and the disrepairs may end up getting worse.

Landlord negligence may include:

If any of these acts of negligence happen to you, it’s time for you to make a Housing Disrepair Claim with the help of a solicitor. Your solicitor will speak to your landlord on your behalf. They will ensure that a triage assessor is sent over to look at the damages for themselves. We would recommend that you document as much evidence as you can to ensure you can prove you are suffering from the negligence. Your evidence can include:

Housing Disrepairs & Cracked Walls: Why are they a problem?

When you move into a house, the main thing you want to see is something that is aesthetic and stable. Seeing cracks in your walls can leave you feeling like you are living in a property that is falling apart and has not had a lot of attention and love over the last few years. It can also make you feel as if you are wasting your money on a property that makes you feel low when you return to it. Emotionally, seeing cracks in your wall can make you feel nervous and worried.

With that said, cracks in your walls can also cause some very bad problems when it comes to the condition of your house. Not only can a crack in your wall show that there is a problem with the insulation within your house, but it can allow cold breezes to pass through. Therefore, you may find that your house is very cold extremely fast. That means that your heating bills may rise because you are trying to keep your family warm during the winter period. Unfortunately, cracks in the wall can also encourage mice, rats, pests and mould & damp to enter or form inside your house. This could potentially increase your chances of suffering from a disease or breathing issues.

Keep an eye out for the following if you are worried about aforementioned problems:

• The feeling of damp growing in your house
• Droppings or scratching noises from vermin
• Cracks that have quickly become bigger
• Bulges inside the wall that are near cracks or holes

Your landlord does need to take a look at the disrepairs when you notice them. They will then find a repair worker to assess whether or not it is the insulation or the wall itself that is causing the cracks.

Housing Disrepairs: Plaster & Ceiling Disrepairs

Another type of crack in your wall may not actually look like a crack. In some walls that have been covered in very old plaster, you may find that air has been trapped beneath the surface. As the interior has grown older, the plaster may weaken and small bubbles may start to appear in the plaster.

If you leave these walls alone, and do not address the bubbles, it may be that eventually these bubbles will be so pressurized that they end up cracking or splitting. This can let stale air into your house. It can also expose you to anything dangerous that lies beneath the surface of your wall. This may cause breathing issues or you may end up with a surface that eventually falls down. This could get you hurt if you are standing next to the wall or are trying to apply any pressure to it. It also may encourage damp and mould to grow on the inside.

Water Damage & Bubbling Walls

Another reason that a crack or bubbled wall could occur is due to water damage. If there is a hole in your roof or cracks in the exterior of the wall, it is likely that water from the pipes or rainy days could collect inside your walls. This could increase the amount of damp that is inside your building and could result in structural damage. The interior’s insulation or wooden inside could eventually buckle due to water damage. You may find that cracks spread around the inside and outside of your house.

In some extreme circumstances, cracks in your walls can even be caused by plant damage as it grows inside your walls. With that said, water damage can be extremely dangerous because it can destroy the structure of your home. If it falls down, you could be hurt in the process quite severely, especially if it ends up falling on you.

Come to Gowing Law for help with your Housing Disrepair Claim

Here at Gowing Law Solicitors, we are determined to help you get the compensation you deserve. You should not be forced to live in a home that is damaged and full of disrepairs. That’s why you should come to Gowing Law for help. We can offer you free advice and consultations to get you started. If you are happy to move forward with your case, we can offer you our services on a “no win-no fee” basis. That means you will always come out on top because you will never have to pay any hidden fees. Therefore, you should come to our law firm as soon as possible to get started.

Find out more about how to get started on your claim by calling our legal team on 0800 041 8350, emailing info@gowinglaw.co.uk or by using our claim’s checker. Our specialists will be there to answer all of your questions. Feel free to ask them anything that’s on your mind!

Find out more about Housing Disrepairs

We are proud that we are able to help our clients with their housing disrepair claims. That’s why we update our blog every week with brand new content about this topic. You can learn the basics about these types of claims before you go into your own. You can also learn more about different UK claims, seasonal events, updates about our law firm and the occasional giveaway/competition. Make sure to suggest blog topics to us so we can write about what interests you! You can send in your blog suggestions to info@gowinglaw.co.uk. You can also sign up to our newsletter below:

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