Our member Maria had leaks in her roof which her housing association failed to fix for months, leading to extensive property damage, increased bills and Maria having to spend time away from her home.
Maria joined Living Rent, organised with her fellow members in Leith and finally got Harbour Homes to fix the leaks in her flat. After all the distress and damage caused due to their inaction, Harbour Homes offered a pitiful £45 in compensation.
So we marched on their office, demanding and securing a meeting to discuss more appropriate compensation for Maria. Following that meeting, Maria was offered a much improved figure of £625 in compensation, including an additional £75 for inconvenience caused.
Maria says, “before I joined Living Rent I was ignored for months, after joining not only was my leak fixed but my compensation offer improved massively. It has made a huge difference and I couldn’t have done it without my union!”
Taking on your housing association, landlord or letting agent can be scary, but you don’t have to do it alone. If you’re having issues with repairs, being hit with a rent rise or served an eviction notice, come along to our next member defence meeting. Together we can demand better.
