Fitness for Human Habitation

Section 10 of the LTA 1985 lists the matters considered: damp, internal arrangement, ventilation, natural lighting, water supply, drainage, freedom from any serious hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). The duty is owed directly to the tenant; the landlord cannot contract out (s.9A(3)). The duty does not apply where the cause is the tenant's own breach of an express tenancy term. Combined with Awaab's Law statutory timescales and the council Environmental Health enforcement powers under Housing Act 2004 Part 1, this gives tenants a powerful framework against substandard housing.

In practice, section 9A is the provision that lets you take your landlord to court yourself rather than waiting for the council to act. That matters because environmental health teams are stretched and cannot act at all against a council landlord in the same authority. The remedies are worth knowing: an order requiring the landlord to carry out the works, and damages, which are usually assessed as a proportion of the rent you paid while the property was unfit, plus compensation for damaged belongings and any effect on health.

Worked example: Tom rents a flat where a failed extractor and a leaking roof have produced persistent damp in two rooms. He reports it in writing with photographs and gets no meaningful response over three months. He follows the pre-action protocol for housing conditions claims: a letter of claim setting out the defects, disclosure requests, and an offer to appoint a single joint expert. The expert surveyor confirms the property is unfit by reference to the section 10 matters and the relevant HHSRS hazards. Faced with that report, the landlord carries out the works and agrees damages covering a share of the rent for the affected period.

The pitfalls are avoidable with care. Evidence beats argument — dated photographs, a written repair log, GP letters if health has suffered, and receipts for ruined belongings. The duty does not cover disrepair caused by the tenant's own breach, or by an event the landlord would not normally insure against, and it does not require the landlord to rebuild after a fire or flood. A landlord is generally only liable once it has notice of the defect, so reporting in writing is not a formality. And you should not withhold rent as a bargaining tactic: that risks a possession claim on rent arrears grounds and undermines an otherwise strong case.

Section 9A works alongside Awaab's Law, which sets the timescales, and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which drives council enforcement. Read our guides to housing disrepair and landlord repair duties, and get advice before issuing a claim.