Half of kitchen floor in council house. Could my mum get compensation for the stress?

pee14
pee14 Online Community Member Posts: 172 Contributor
edited August 2021 in Housing and independent living
Hi my mum moved in to a council house 5 yrs ago every winter the kitchen was freezing we don't know why it was so so cold , her heating bills was a top up metre and she was spending more and more and gas , a few weeks ago she had the little dreaded mice , so incommunties sent the pest control , they looked under the kitchen units only to find she had half of a kitchen floor missing in 2 separate places , pest control must of been to this property before mum moved in because they was old bait under there, she has waited a few weeks for this repair and it was done yesterday , she has asked for compensation for the stress of having to cope with a freezing kitchen , heating escaping and the financial difficulty resulting in this also her health conditions asthma oestroarthritis amongst others , can she be compensated for this if anyone knows anything will be appreciated 

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    HI,

    Five years is a long time to live with these issues. Did she report the problems previously?
  • pee14
    pee14 Online Community Member Posts: 172 Contributor
    No she didn't know till pest control discovered it ,she basically put it down and accepted it to be a cold house, good to see you back @poppy123456
  • pee14
    pee14 Online Community Member Posts: 172 Contributor
    @poppy123456 it's been the perfect access for the mice & rats 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    @pee14 thank you :) I don't know how you can ask for compensation for something they may not even known was an issue. There's certainly no harm in asking them.

    Social housing may have some poor conditioned houses but the same goes for the privately rented houses. Over the years i've lived in some awful houses and had to spend some of my own money to get the house half decent.


  • abbyk41
    abbyk41 Online Community Member Posts: 96 Connected
    Just a side note I have always lived private as never been able to get a social flat. Anyhow my conditions got worse meaning I couldn’t go back to my private rented place as had stairs etc. So the council found me this ground floor adapted flat which has a gawjus view I am so lucky and its well maintained my council does seem to fix problems very easily so not all bad at all in fact my private landlords couldn’t give a **** more then this 
  • pee14
    pee14 Online Community Member Posts: 172 Contributor
    Thankyou everyone but shouldn't a tenancy be thoroughly checked before a new tenant is in place
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 4,276 Championing
    pee14 said:
    Thankyou everyone but shouldn't a tenancy be thoroughly checked before a new tenant is in place
    Council may be different, but private agents definitely don't check places thoroughly.  They wait until you're in and then only fix the things you specifically complain about. 

    If the missing floor is hidden under a cupboard, I don't see how they could have known about it from a quick visual inspection.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    pee14 said:
    Thankyou everyone but shouldn't a tenancy be thoroughly checked before a new tenant is in place

    I've lived in a housing association property too and i can say the the house definitely wasn't checked before i moved in. I had a list as long as my arm of things that needed repairing or replacing. My kitchen even had missing units and my back door was so bad the rain was coming in down the bottom and the draught was exactly like i was outside.

    I've yet to move into any privately rented property with no complaints about something needing repairing. My current house didn't have a working oven and it's integrated so it was the landlords responsibility.
  • pee14
    pee14 Online Community Member Posts: 172 Contributor
    @OverlyAnxious, I'm sure that whether it's hidden  or not checks should have been in place regardless, and even more so has the missing floor is next to an electrical point, thankyou for all responses ? I will update you  on the process of this complaint.
  • pee14
    pee14 Online Community Member Posts: 172 Contributor
    edited February 2022
    Hello, 
    Just thought I'd update you on this ,inncommunties insurance paid out 1240 pound to my mum , so it is well worth seeking compensation for their liability in housing repair issues.
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    That's good news @pee14 I hope that's a weight off your shoulders for you and your mum :)
  • pee14
    pee14 Online Community Member Posts: 172 Contributor
    Alex_Scope said:
    That's good news @pee14 I hope that's a weight off your shoulders for you and your mum :)it certainly is,thankyou.

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