Complaints about housing conditions

Every year the Council receives hundreds of complaints regarding poor housing conditions in private-rented accommodation. Officers are always available to offer advice and for the more serious problems the Council can use legal powers to require that remedial action is taken.

The majority of complaints relate to disrepair, such as rotted or ill-fitting windows, leaking roofs, rising dampness or dangerous electrical wiring. In such instances Environmental Health can order the landlord to do the necessary repairs.

If the house is in such a poor condition that it is unfit to live in, action could be taken to "close" or demolish it, although in practice this rarely happens.

The Environmental Health Service can also deal with the following housing problems:

Overcrowding This can cause severe stress in any household and in HMOs it puts a strain on the use of kitchen and sanitary facilities and increases the risk of fire. Action can be taken to limit excessive numbers of people to prevent overcrowding.
Power and water supplies If the electricity, gas or water supplies have been disconnected due to the landlord's failure to pay the accounts, Environmental Health can get these reconnected by service of a formal notice.
Drainage Defective or blocked drains are a severe health risk and the Council has powers to require landlords to carry out urgent repairs. In certain circumstances the necessary repairs will be carried out by Council workers.