Housing disrepair claims for social housing tenants

If your council or housing association has left your home in poor repair after you reported it, we can review your enquiry and explain the options open to you.

Your landlord is responsible for keeping the structure and exterior of your home in repair, along with the installations that supply water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation. When those obligations are not met, and you have reported the problem, you may have a housing disrepair claim.

Helping Tenants is an FCA authorised Claims Management Company. We review enquiries from council and housing association tenants and, where a case appears suitable, we may refer it to one of our panel solicitors. We do not provide legal advice ourselves.

What counts as disrepair

• Damp, condensation and black mould
• Leaks from pipes, roofs, windows or fittings
• Faulty or blocked guttering and water ingress
• Cracked internal walls and ceilings
• Cracked or damaged exterior walls
• Rodent and insect infestation caused by disrepair
• Broken heating, hot water or sanitation
• Faulty wiring, sockets and electrics
• Rotten windows, doors and floors

The test is not how unpleasant the problem is, but whether it falls within your landlord's repairing obligations and whether they have failed to act within a reasonable time of being told.

What a claim can achieve

Most disrepair cases have two aims: getting the repairs carried out, and compensation for the period you lived with the problem. Some cases achieve both, some achieve repairs alone, and some are unsuccessful. No one can tell you in advance which yours will be.

What we need from you

When you enquire, it helps to have the basics to hand: who your landlord is, what is wrong, when you first reported it, and what has happened since. Photographs and any written correspondence are useful. Our evidence checklist sets out what to gather.

How the process works

• We review your enquiry and tell you whether we can help.
• We may ask for more detail or photographs.
• Where needed, an independent survey of the property may be arranged.
• If your case appears suitable, we may refer it to a panel solicitor, who would handle the legal work.
• We explain our service and how we are paid before you enter into any agreement.

Tell us what is wrong with your home

We will explain your options honestly, including the ones that do not involve us. Making an enquiry costs nothing and commits you to nothing.