Severe disrepair, unsafe home, worsening health & child development concerns – what legal steps can I take now?

[HumbleTalkativeMum]

Hi all,
I’m looking for legal guidance because I feel completely stuck and unsupported, despite years of trying to get help.

I’m a single mum of three young children living in a privately rented ground‑floor flat in Waltham Forest. I have severe asthma, and my eldest has sickle cell trait. My 3‑year‑old is due to start speech and language therapy in two weeks, and I’m increasingly worried that the environment we’re living in has contributed to her delays. I’m also concerned she may be autistic, but the housing situation has been so overwhelming that I haven’t been able to focus properly on assessments.

What’s been happening

I’ve had multiple inspections and reports over the years, including:

HEET reports (2023 & 2025) confirming severe mould, blown window seals, poor ventilation, structural cold, pests, and multiple hazards.

Council inspections (2021–2023) documenting mice, ants, broken windowsill, collapsing fence, faulty smoke alarms, draughts, and more.

My own hazard summary with 20+ unresolved issues.

Only two repairs have ever been completed:

the garden fence

the ovenEverything else remains outstanding.

Current legal situation

I’m in contact with Tenants Advice, and they’ve put me in touch with a solicitor. But it’s a one‑man team, and we’re stuck waiting to see who is liable — the landlady or the receivers (the property is now in repossession).At the moment, they are only dealing with repairs and compensation related to the disrepair itself.

To make things more complicated, my landlady’s assets have been frozen by the bank, yet she was still contacting me asking for rent. The receivers told me to block her calls, texts, and emails, which I have done. I feel completely caught in the middle of a legal mess I didn’t create.

Financial concerns about the landlady

In 2023, I found out she was £6,000 in mortgage arrears.I pay her £1,003.77 a month, but her mortgage is only around £600.At court, she agreed to pay £699 (mortgage + arrears), but she did not pay it.The receivers have now told me her debt has more than doubled.None of this makes sense, and I feel like I’ve been paying rent into a property that was already financially collapsing, while living in unsafe conditions.

What I actually need
I want full compensation from all aspects, not just repairs. This includes:
the deterioration of my asthma
the impact on my children’s health
the effect on my 3‑year‑old’s speech and development
the emotional distress and daily disruption
the council’s failure in placing me here and allowing this to continue for years
the landlord/receivers’ failure to act despite multiple reports

I don’t feel wrong for wanting this — the situation has affected every part of our lives.

Environmental Health

I have tried to contact Environmental Health directly, but the emails are bouncing back. I live in Walthamstow (E17), and I’m struggling to reach the correct team despite multiple attempts. This makes it even harder to report what may be a Category 1 hazard.

MP involvement

My MP is technically “involved”, but she hasn’t been responsive or helpful. I’m not getting any real support or pressure from her office.

My question

Legally, what should my next steps be?Should I escalate to Environmental Health another way, find a different solicitor, pursue a personal injury claim, or take action against both the landlady and the receivers?Has anyone dealt with a similar situation where liability was unclear and multiple parties were responsible?

Any guidance would be hugely appreciated. I’m exhausted and just want a safe home for my children.

OP, please contact Shelter, they have teams that can advise and advocate for you.

That sounds absolutely exhausting and I really sympathise.

Do you have much confidence in your current solicitor? I wonder if calling in to CAB would be a good next step. I suspect there are solicitors that specialise in this area.

Have you been to the council offices to request the right contact details in person, for the EH team?

I'd guess your MP is SC - you could contact her publicly on social media to ask her to escalate things? Sometimes that's more likely to have an effect.

(In terms of compensation though, respectfully you may need to manage your expectations here - quantifying and costing all the elements of everything you've listed would be a massive job in itself. That's not to say I don't understand your frustration - I do, but you should probably be prepared.)

england.shelter.org.uk/get_help/helpline

Agree with managing your expectations regarding any financial compensation. Items such your dc speech development are unlikely to be quantifiable and difficult to prove there were a causal link. Is there any way you could be moved with support of LA and Shelter? If ll has got into arrears and failed in a duty to maintain the property did they protect your deposit, carry out statutory checks and responsibilities.

I would be focusing mainly on where you are going to live in future. As the property is being repossessed, presumably it will be sold off? Have you asked the council about being rehomed - where and when? Did you pay a deposit when you moved in?

I think your energies would be best spent on getting your family moved somewhere better and getting any deposit back, rather than claiming compensation.

It will be very difficult to prove that the housing situation has definitely caused these impacts on your family, and the financial value of these impacts. I’m not saying you are wrong, but just saying it will be very hard to prove this enough to bring a financial claim.

Shelter for advice.
Move.

Local councillor

To contact the London Borough of Waltham Forest environmental health services regarding issues as a private tenant, you should use the following contact details:

• Phone: 020 8496 4949 to request a free home visit or report a concern with a privately rented property.
• Email: [email protected].
• General Enquiries/Resolution Centre: 020 8496 3000.

Report an issue with a property - Issue - Waltham Forest https://share.google/OC7ZXnN158jvsI88Q

Don’t waste your time trying to seek compensation. If the property owner isn’t paying the mortgage, she likely doesn’t have any money.

Which lender is the mortgage with? If the property is repossessed they become the owner and will sell to try and recoup their loss. Once they have possession they will want you out. As a PP said, put your energies into finding somewhere else to live.

What do you meanby the council placing you there

the council’s failure in placing me here and allowing this to continue for years

As previous posters have you, your priority needs to be finding somewhere else to live.

It sounds like you’ve lived there and had concerns since at least 2021, what have you tried since in terms of finding a new property and moving?

Are the children’s dad/s involved?

I’m going to ask an uncomfortable question. Regardless of whose “fault” this is, what are you doing to address the issues in the accommodation? Are you regularly cleaning mould / ventilating / not hanging washing inside / being meticulously clean to not encourage pests etc?

I also think compensation is hugely unlikely. You need to move, yes, but my
understanding is if you’re privately renting then the onus is on you to find alternative accommodation?

This sounds like a rubbish situation to be in, but the reality is this women has no money, so you're not going to get the repairs done, and i suspect you will be at the bottom of the list to get any financial compensation out of her as the mortgage company will have by far the biggest claim and legal clout.

As for the speech and language disorder, if you think your child is Autistic, then this is genetic not environmental and has nothing to do with your poor housing situation.

I think the best you can do is cut your loses and find a new place to live, is your deposit protected?

You are better off putting all your energies into finding somewhere else to live rather than persisting with compensation. As PP have said, you are a long way down the list of people the landlady will need to pay. Whoever buys the property will give you notice either way, either because they don't want a tennant or because the property is in such disrepair it will require an awful lot of work to put right which is easier and cheaper with a vacant property.

I'm guessing you are a council tennant in a private rental?

You have these reports, have you actually gone back to the council and asked to be rehomed? Do you ring them up weekly asking what they are going to do? Have you put yourself back on the council bidding list and are you actively bidding on property?

If you are a private tennant why haven't you just given notice and moved?

If you want to go down the compensation road, you need to speak to shelter or CAB. They will have better advice for you. I would be incredibly wary of making too much of a fuss and going down legal or becoming a very difficult tennant. Housing is very very short in supply and landlords are able to cherry pick tenants. Any sign you are a problem tennant and you are right down the bottom of the pile of choice of tenant. You may find yourself in temporary accommodation for many many years.

Why haven't you moved for so many years? Don't you want your kids to live in better conditions? Ultimately, they are your responsibility as a parent, not a government's or council's responsibility!
There is no way I would force my children to live with pests!

My dc lived in a flat as a student and the house (which was split into three flats) was repossessed.

it was a bloody nightmare. The owner/previous owner kept asking for rent and so did the bank. The whole process took ages - and yes, no repairs at all were done while it was happening.

she left after a year (finished her degree).

everyone was evicted and the house was sold.

in your shoes I would assume that the bank are the correct people to be dealing with rather than the (previous) owner.

i would also be assuming that I will need to move in the very near future and so would be focusing on finding a new place to live.

sorry.

Are you a council tennant or a private rented tenant who was supported by the council with bond and initial rent as part of their homeless duty?

This is confusing "the council’s failure in placing me here and allowing this to continue for years"

If a council tenant in our area you would be responsible for :-
Maintaining the fence
Pests - our council have their own pest control that is cheaper than private companies, but you still have to pay £60 for each course of treatment.

I would concentrate on Environmental Health as they have the power to compel action, but if you are a private rented tenant with a skint landlord I would think realistically about outcomes. I hope you are saving the rent you aren't paying (IF it doesn't come from UC who would want it back).

In a similar case I am aware of Environmental Health condemned the house for dodgy electrics and tenants had to move out. They then checked periodically that it wasn't re-let or listed for rent in breach of the order. If tenants had stayed and landlord had ignored their enforcement notices Environmental Health could have done the repairs and recharged against the property, but it would have taken time and it was clear the landlord had no money to fulfil her duty to house the tenants whilst work ongoing.

Someone more knowledgeable will be along, but I would expect a personal injury claim to fail for 2 reasons:-

1. It will be difficult to prove that your issues all stem from the house.
2. You would be expected to mitigate as soon as you became aware of the issues by taking appropriate action to deal with them or to move out. I understand it's not that simple in the current financial climate.

Single mum to three young kids, in receipt of housing benefit (and probably very low income) - it’s not as easy as just ‘move house then’.