• I WRITE further to your report on the visits paid to social housing tenants by firms of solicitors who operate on a “no-win-no-fee” basis and encourage people to commence legal proceedings should their homes be in an unsatisfactory state of repair.

The hefty fees taken by these firms of up to 50 per cent of any compensation awarded, irrespective of whether repairs are eventually carried out, is an example of predatory businesses taking advantage of the ongoing cost of living crisis, despite the fact that individuals are able to take court action independently, thus avoiding such charges.

Your article indirectly draws attention to the far less secure tenancies of people renting in the private sector, compared with their counterparts in social housing.

Incidences of mould, damp, and other structural faults are likely to be considerably higher in the private sector due to tenants’ reluctance to report such matters owing to justifiable concern that their landlords will evict them at short notice and without a reason by issuing section 21 notices.

The current government continues to renege on its promise made in 2019 to abolish such notices, despite section 21 evictions being the leading cause of ever-increasing homelessness.

KEELEY-JASMINE CAVENDISH, SE21