Residents of a shared property in south-east London had to urinate in a bath or use the lavatories at a nearby furniture superstore for 58 days because their landlord did not fix a broken toilet, a tribunal has heard.
The five tenants also had to put up with a faulty ventilation system that was so noisy it kept them awake at night and caused mould.
They applied for rent repayment accusing the landlords of not holding the correct licence to run the Greenwich property and were given £5,300 back.
The landlord accepted they were unlicensed and said it was due to the co-landlord’s memory loss which they had experienced since suffering a “severe brain injury” in 2021.
The owners of the four-bedroom maisonette on Woolwich Road required a special licence as the property was a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), meaning the home was shared by at least three people sharing the same kitchen and bathroom.
The landlord told the tribunal that she had lost a letter from Greenwich Council which outlined updates to the council’s licensing policy, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.
The tribunal’s impression was that both landlords’ understanding of the licensing regime was limited and “they had no real understanding of the nature of mandatory licensing”.
The tribunal acknowledged the landlord’s health situation, but ruled they should have been aware of the need for HMO licensing as they owned and managed other HMO properties.
One of the residents admitted to breaking the lavatory bowl in October 2023. The landlords accepted responsibility for the repair, but it was not carried out for 58 days, the tribunal heard.
The landlords said they thought the faulty ventilation system served the whole block, but after finding out this was not the case a specialist company was contacted to have the system checked and repaired.
The system was found to be operating at 50 per cent efficiency and vent openings within the flat were “seriously affected by mould”, according to a report from the proceedings.
Considering the licensing, disrepair and other issues, the tribunal calculated the Rent Repayment Order to be 40 per cent of the maximum possible figure of £13,229. This was rounded to £5,300.
