Slum landlord

[user1486204288]

My son lives in a property in south London owned by a slum landlord. It has recently come to light that he and 5 other tenants have been living there in an electrical death trap for 3 years. (They have always had to pay her in cash). They now also have to live there while builders are there from 6.30 in the morning til 4.30 (including Saturdays) while they renovate the place. Asbestos has also been removed without any precautions being taken nor warning.
Obviously this is her way of getting rid of these tenants so she can triple the rent or sell the house.
What are their rights?

It tends to work both ways - has your son’s rent been very low? He could just move to a proper property with a contract but would need to pay market rates.

He pays 500 a month for one small room. Is that a low rent?

Low rent is no excuse for a death trap. He should contact the local council.

Environmental health at borough council and/Or private landlord department. Is it registered as an hmo?

It tends to work both ways - has your son’s rent been very low

Like PP said, he could report the landlady. And yes, £500 is pretty low for London especially that these cash-in-hand arrangements tend to include bills. I’m not really sure what he might be able to enforce with no contract or records of payments. But equally, he could just move to somewhere better. With no contract, he could just vanish one day without even making the last payment. For some reason he chooses to stay in this dump.