My sister rents a council house. There is work that needs to be done structuraly to it. Damp, asbestos, kitchen has no cupboard doors, legally required depth of insulation not used in loft, no cavity wall insulation. Now she works full time and pays her rent every week. Her neighbours who sponge off the state and are popping sprogs out for a living have all the work done to the house when they request it. My sister has been waiting 8 years now for her cavity wall insulation and the kitchen to be replaced. They keep moving the goal posts. She was told when she moved in they would be sorted in 12 months. Now she's at the end of her tether. If it was a private rented property she could with hold the rent until the landlord sorted these problems. Whats the situation in a council house? Anyone know?

If it was a private rented property she could with hold the rent until the landlord sorted these problems.

Not so, it is not legal to with hold rent, a private landlord would have you evicted for non payment of rent.

Ask the local council housing dept to inspect the house. The only things legally required to be fixed are the damp and the asbestos. There is no legal minimum for loft insulation or a legal requirement to ahve cavity wall, these are all optional.

She does have a choice. Move out. But then I expect she will not find anything as cheap as a council owned property..

She has to find some leverage. Get her local councillor and MP on her side.

SAo her neighbours have had cavity wall insulation adn a new kitchen done have they?

They just have to ask but your sister gets nothing because she works.

I doubt it

Ask the local council housing dept to inspect the house.

They won't inspect their own property, and even if they did, they couldn't take enforcement action against themselves, could they? 🙂

There are things she can do, but she needs to contact someone herself. I guarantee she will get bad advice off here.

Click my name if she wants an organisation that can give independent correct legal advice

Im a surveyor, and have inspected thousands of council properties over the years to assess levels of compliance with the governments Decent Homes standard (producing reports for contractors to bring the houses up to meet the standard).

Whilst different authorities take slightly different interpretations of the legislation, generally speaking they set out to ensure that all houses / flats are:

– Warm
– Dry
– Easy to heat, and control the temperature in different rooms
– Have reasonably modern* facilities (kitchen and bathrooms)

(* reasonably modern = less than 30 years old!!)

Any rented property should have received a non-intrusive survey for asbestos, and if any was identified, the asbestos management procedure would of stipulated whether it needs to be removed or not (remember asbestos takes many forms, and does not always need to be removed, ie, it could be encapsulated and / or in good condition – not releasing fibres)

Was your sisters house inspected for the decent homes standard?