What is disrepair?
Disrepair is when a landlord does not meet its responsibilities to keep your home in repair. This can include not completing repairs we’re responsible for within a reasonable time, or not keeping installations for sanitation, electricity, gas and water supplies in working order.
What is a disrepair claim?
A disrepair claim is a legal claim about the condition of your home. Some tenants and leaseholders are contacted by or contact claims management companies about making a claim against their landlord.
Before deciding to start a legal claim, it’s important to understand the possible costs, timescales and risks that may be involved.
Claims management companies are businesses that may contact tenants and leaseholders to encourage them to make a disrepair claim. If you decide to go ahead with this, they may then pass your case to a solicitor or another organisation.
Some companies may not give you all the information you need before you agree to work with them, so it’s important to understand all the terms before signing anything.
Not always. Some solicitors offer “no win, no fee” agreements, but you may still be responsible for some costs depending on the agreement. If you lose your case, you may have to pay some or all of our legal costs. You should always check the small print and make sure you understand what you’re agreeing to before signing.
Yes, compensation may be awarded through a legal claim, depending on the circumstances. However, compensation is not guaranteed and will depend on the facts of each case. If you’re awarded compensation as part of a legal claim that has been bought under a “no win, no fee” arrangement, then your solicitors may take some money from this before it’s paid to you.
If you have rent arrears, any compensation awarded through a legal claim may be used to reduce those arrears before being paid to you or your solicitor. This does not apply to compensation awarded through our direct complaints process.
Yes. If you use the Housing Ombudsman, your complaint will be reviewed by someone independent, not by us.
If you start a legal claim, your claim will usually be handled by a solicitor or legal representative acting on your behalf.
Housing Ombudsman decisions may be published publicly. Legal claims are different, and whether information becomes public will depend on the route the case takes and the circumstances. If a claim goes to court, information about the case and the court’s decision may become public. It’s important to understand this before deciding whether to start a legal claim.
Before starting a legal claim, consider getting free, independent advice from organisations such as Shelter or Citizens Advice. You can also contact your local authority for information and support.
If you need to report a new repair, chase an existing repair, or raise a complaint about repairs in your home, click the button below to visit our repair complaints page.
This is the quickest way to tell us what’s happening so we can look into it and work with you to put things right.
