Forum Home → Discussion → Other areas of social welfare law → Thread
Housing Question
Does anyone have a view on this. It would seem that the client has no recourse to complain or compensation as he left the bikes etc at his own risk or could it be argued that the cleaner, acting as an agent for the LL, means client does have a case?
Client (CL) rents a property from the local authority. Cl had 4 bikes which he decided to store in a store room on the estate where he lived without his landlord’s permission. The cl was given access to the store area by the estate cleaner who organised for a key to be cut so the cl had access to the store room.
The cl stored 4 bikes and 2 separate wheels in the store room. One day recently the cl noticed that the padlock to the store room had been changed and the bikes and wheels had been removed. The cl contacted the landlord and was informed that he had no authority to store the bikes in the store room and they had been removed and disposed of.
The cl wants to know if he can seek compensation from his landlord for the lost bikes.
The cl had his tenancy agreement with him and was clear that he had no right to store the bikes in the store room, nor had he sought permission from the landlord to do so.
Putting his bikes in the store room without the permission of the owner is a trespass and the landlord can sue for damages. I doubt that a court would hold that the actions of the cleaner (rather than a housing officer) amounted to a consent of the landlord given the strict prohibition in the tenancy agreement. However, I’m not sure that the trespass by the tenant gives the landlord the right to just dispose of the bikes without so much as a by your leave, thus depriving him of his property or its corresponding value. That too could constitute a trespass and give the owner the right to sue for damages also. I’d send him to a solicitor.
Nevip,
Many thanks for this.
Nevip,
As you seem to be know this area fairly well, what would be the time limit for the client to make a claim, if he wanted to do so and what would the claim be i.e. a small claim etc?
Thanks again.
A claim is lodged with the County Court. If his claim is for £10,000 or less the court will then allocate it to the small claims track. He has six years from the date his cause of action accrued.
Brilliant.
From working as a housing officer in the dim & distant past, the wheels of housing management move almost as slowly as those of the DWP, and there is almost certainly more to this tale than the clt has told you. The housing officer has more than likely tried to find out the owner of the bikes, and placed notices on the store room or written to all residents, which in both cases would jeopardise the clt’s chances in court if he had received notice one way or another and chosen not to do anything about it. The only reason I can see why they would not is if they had reason to believe the storage area was being used for illegal purposes - to store stolen goods etc, or if there were things going missing & excessive levels of orders were being made by that cleaner in comparison. - i.e. to protect their assets & reduce costs to the residents.
There is argument that the HO may have been negligent in finding out who owned the bikes by not making appropriate enquiries e.g. to the cleaner who gave access, but as s/he was acting outside their authority in giving the clt access and a key, their word may not have been accepted.
Communal storage areas & the like are a complete PITA from a housing officer’s point of view.
Seems he might have a case under 12(1)(c) then?
Have a look at sections 1 and 3 also. Remember, the Act must be read as a whole.
Absolutely, thanks again for all of the comments above.