Housing Disrepair Claims

In order to fulfil their duties as a landlord, they must manage and maintain the following:

• Property structure – roof, walls, ceilings, floors and windows
• Property fittings – bathroom, toilet and kitchen fittings, plus associated pipes and drains
• Welfare infrastructure – heating and water systems and associated pipework
• Alarms – security, fire and other safety alarms
• Safety – gas appliances, electrical safety, any ventilation systems

You are entitled to report any problems with these above items and to expect the landlord to repair or resolve them free-of-charge. If they do not and the problems stay unresolved or deteriorate further, you may be eligible to make a claim.

If you rent accommodation which suffers from any of these common problems, you have reported the problem and it has not been resolved in a reasonable timeframe, then you may be entitled to file a housing disrepair claim:

• Damp problems
• Mould and damaged plasterwork
• Rotting or damaged windows
• Water leaks or signs of water leaks (internally and externally) from damaged roofs, ceilings, pipes and gutters
• Faulty heating, boilers and radiators
• Electrical issues – faulty/damaged sockets and exposed/damaged wiring
• Damaged floors, doors, walls, windows and stairs
• Damaged fittings – bathroom, toilet, kitchen
• Infestations – vermin or insects
• Structural issues – evidence of walls, plaster or roof damage
• External damage – brickwork, paths, fences and gates

You are entitled to report any of these issues, and if they are not repaired within a reasonable time period, contact Legal HD to start a claim.

If you think you are eligible to make a housing disrepair claim, keep dates and evidence of when you reported the problem, take photos of the problem (including if/when it deteriorates and gets worse) and contact us to start a claim.

We will quickly establish the details of your situation and if you are eligible to make a claim, and if so we will start the process to:

• Make sure the landlord carries out the repairs or resolves the issue you have reported ASAP
• Claim for any damage to your personal belongings as a result of the issue
• Claim for any financial loss you have suffered which is directly attributable to the issue
• Claim for any personal injury you have suffered which is directly attributable to the issue
• Claim for any inconvenience caused by you having to live with the issue

Contact our housing disrepair solicitors today.

The following is a list of common problems/repairs that are frequently included in a housing disrepair claim:

• Damp problems
• Mould and damaged plasterwork
• Rotting or damaged windows
• Water leaks or signs of water leaks (internally and externally) from damaged roofs, ceilings, pipes and gutters
• Faulty heating, boilers and radiators
• Electrical issues – faulty/damaged sockets and exposed/damaged wiring
• Damaged floors, doors, walls, windows and stairs
• Damaged fittings – bathroom, toilet, kitchen
• Infestations – vermin or insects
• Structural issues – evidence of walls, plaster or roof damage
• External damage – brickwork, paths, fences and gates

If ALL of these apply, you:

• are renting your accommodation from a housing association, through social housing or through a local authority
• have reported a problem with the condition of the property directly to the landlord
• have given the landlord a reasonable time period to resolve the issue
• are still living with the problem unresolved

Then you are eligible to make a housing disrepair claim. If you contact our claims team we can go through all these details with you to confirm your eligibility.

No, your landlord has a basic duty to provide a property that is fit for human habitation, has functioning features and is safe and secure. None of this needs to be specified in your tenancy agreement because it is the landlord’s legal responsibility.

It will not cost you anything to make a housing disrepair claim with Legal HD. We make no upfront charges. If you win the case then we will deduct the fee for our services from your compensation reward, and this amount will be specified before any work commences. If you lose the case, we make no charge for our services. This is known as a ‘conditional fee agreement’.

No, if the fault or repair need that you have reported is a result of your negligence or your unreasonable behaviour, then the landlord is not liable to resolve this issue. The landlord may choose to carry out the repair but they are entitled to charge you for it. This should be stipulated in your tenancy agreement, because both the landlord and the tenant have a duty to maintain the property through reasonable behaviour.

You can file a housing disrepair claim while you are still living in the property, ie. while the tenancy agreement is still valid, but you can also file a claim after the tenancy agreement has ended and you have moved out of the property. However, you have a maximum of six years to make the claim, from the date that you first reported it. And if you suffered a personal injury as a result of the reported problem not being resolved, then you have a maximum of three years to file a personal injury claim. In such cases where significant time has elapsed, of course it is very important that you have recorded all dates and details and have photographic evidence of the original problem relating to what you are claiming for, and its consequences.

No, if you have successfully won a claim for housing disrepair and the landlord has been forced to resolve the issue on your property, they cannot charge you for this work. If you have reported a problem that is outside a landlord’s basic responsibilities, they may choose to carry out this repair, but you cannot make a claim if they don’t carry out this work, and the landlord is entitled to charge you for the work if they choose to do it.

There is no set amount stipulated for housing disrepair claim compensation, and it will be calculated on an individual case basis, using a basic criteria such as:

• How much your rental charges are for the accommodation
• How bad the disrepair has deteriorated since you first reported it
• How badly it has affected you
• How long the issue has remained unresolved since you first reported it to the landlord.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept private landlord / property claims.