Solicitor told to pay tenant’s legal bill after ‘no win, no fee’ disrepair claim fails

Jennifer Shaw, managing director of First Legal Solicitors, said the firm took its duty to its clients “very seriously” and worked hard to provide an excellent service.

Ms Shaw said the tenant had started reporting the issues in her property before the first COVID lockdown, and it was only through the firm’s help that she was able to bring the council to account for its responsibilities.

She added: “Unfortunately, litigation is not a certainty, and sometimes adverse findings are made. However, the good news in this instance is that our client, like most of our other clients, has been successful in securing the required repairs to their property to bring it up to a safe and habitable standard.

“This is a basic human right, and the council’s refusal to meet their obligations in this regard and to force clients to resort to litigation is disappointing at best.”

In a statement, City of York Council said this was the latest in a string of unsuccessful no win, no fee cases tenants and their solicitors had brought against it.

Michael Pavlovic, executive member for housing, planning and safer communities at the council, said: “This is the third failed housing disrepair claim made by no win, no fee solicitors resulting in tenants being ordered to pay many [thousands of pounds] in costs.”

Mr Pavlovic said the council’s repairs service was “steadily improving”, and it always invited tenants to talk to officers about any repairs needed, or about any delay or dissatisfaction. 

“These claims against the council divert time and money from tenants’ homes,” he added.

Local authorities have experienced a rise in disrepair cases, with one London council recently reporting a 350% increase in claims between 2018-19 and 2023-24.

Under Awaab’s Law, which comes into effect in October, housing tenants will be able to challenge landlords that do not abide by the regulations, either through the Housing Ombudsman or by bringing a housing disrepair claim. To coincide with the new regime, the government said it would launch a call for evidence on claim-farming to ensure that both tenants and landlords were “not unfairly targeted”.

At the time, Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, said: “Through this, we will gather evidence on claims management company referrals to solicitors on a no win, no fee basis, to seek views on current practices and consider how to reduce unscrupulous claims-farming activity in housing disrepair cases.”

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is concerned about the issue of bulk claims, and last month met the Ministry of Justice to discuss how to protect consumers. According to recent board papers, the regulator has over 80 live investigations across 74 firms with potentially more than 200,000 claims between them, most commonly relating to financial products, housing disrepair and cavity-wall insulation.

It is also investigating former clients of the collapsed Sheffield firm SSB Law. Inside Housing reported last year how the collapsed firm’s former clients were landed with bills for legal costs for discontinued litigation for cavity-wall insulation claims.