Housing Disrepair Claims

GLP Solicitors provides clear, practical, and fearless legal representation to tenants trapped in substandard housing. With over 50 years of experience, we know exactly how to hold non-compliant landlords to account. We assess your circumstances, protect your legal rights, and handle your case on a strict No Win, No Fee basis, forcing your landlord to complete all necessary structural repairs whilst securing the financial compensation you are legally owed.

A housing disrepair claim is a formal legal process brought by a tenant against a landlord who has failed to maintain a property to the mandatory legal standards. Under British housing law, landlords must ensure a property is safe, secure, and structurally sound. A claim legally compels them to fix actionable defects and pays you damages for the time you had to live in a compromised home.

You can bring a claim if you are a social, council, or private tenant, and your landlord has failed to carry out required repairs within a reasonable timeframe after being officially notified of the issues. If you have reported a defect in writing and it remains unresolved, you likely have valid grounds for legal action.

Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, your landlord is strictly responsible for a vast array of maintenance issues. Actionable disrepair includes:
-Severe rising damp and toxic black mould.
-Leaking roofs, faulty gutters, and internal pipe bursts.
-Broken boilers, defective heating systems, and hot water failures.
-Faulty electrical wiring or hazardous gas installations.
-Structural defects (unstable masonry, severe wall cracks, or rotten flooring).
-Pest, vermin, or insect infestations caused by underlying structural issues.

Yes. Damp and mould are among the most widespread and legally significant reasons tenants bring claims. If a structural defect (such as a leaking roof, failed damp-proof course, or defective window seals) has caused damp or black mould to spread, and your landlord has failed to remedy it after being notified, you have a clear right to seek repairs and compensation.

Yes. Legally, a landlord has a “reasonable time” to act once they are aware of a defect (usually 14 to 21 days for urgent issues). If your landlord continuously ignores your emails, text messages, or phone calls, or sends contractors who carry out cheap, temporary patch-up jobs, they are in breach of their statutory duties, and you can launch a claim.

Yes. Housing associations are bound by strict statutory housing regulations. If your housing association has neglected your estate or ignored your formal complaints, we can use our extensive housing expertise to bypass their internal bureaucracy and launch formal legal proceedings to force action.

Yes. Local authorities have a strict legal duty of care to maintain the social housing stock they rent to tenants. If council repair queues have left you waiting months or years for basic maintenance, a housing disrepair claim can legally expedite the work and penalise the council for the unreasonable delay.

Yes. Private landlords must comply with the exact same structural maintenance laws as councils and housing associations. If a private landlord refuses to maintain your home to a safe, liveable standard, they are breaking the law, and we can pursue them for full repair compliance and damages.

No, in fact, you must remain living in the property to bring an active housing disrepair claim. You cannot move out and launch a claim for ongoing repairs, as the legal process requires you to have an active tenancy at the affected address. Remaining in the property is also essential because it allows our independent environmental surveyors direct access to inspect, photograph, and legally document the ongoing disrepair inside the home.

No. You cannot bring a housing disrepair claim if you have already moved out and ended your tenancy at the property. Legal action for housing disrepair requires you to be a current tenant living in the affected home, as the primary objective of the claim is to legally compel the landlord to carry out repair works to your active living space. Once you vacate the property and surrender the tenancy, your right to launch a disrepair claim for that address closes.

Yes. If housing defects like toxic black mould, pervasive damp, or a total lack of heating have directly caused or worsened a medical condition (such as asthma, respiratory infections, severe allergies, or chronic anxiety), you can claim additional “personal injury” damages. We will coordinate the necessary independent medical reports to link your health issues directly to the disrepair.

Yes. Children are highly vulnerable to the health hazards of damp, freezing, or mouldy accommodation. If your children have suffered respiratory illnesses or required medical intervention due to the living conditions, this will form a critical, heavily weighted component of the compensation package we build against your landlord.

Yes. If your personal possessions, such as clothes, furniture, carpets, bedding, or electrical items, have been ruined by leaking water, damp, or spreading black mould, you can claim for the replacement cost of these items.

Compensation is calculated based on several distinct factors: the severity of the disrepair, how long it has been left neglected, and the total percentage of your home rendered unusable or uncomfortable. Payouts are typically awarded as a percentage rebate of your rent for the entire duration of the disrepair, alongside additional payouts for damaged belongings and proven health impacts.

Yes. We handle qualifying housing disrepair claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means there is absolutely zero financial risk to you. If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not owe us a penny. If we win the case and recover financial compensation for you, our success fee is deducted directly as a capped portion of the damages recovered, meaning you never pay out of your own pocket.

No. When your case is taken on under a No Win, No Fee agreement, you will never be asked for upfront legal fees or hidden administration costs. We cover the initial costs of launching the claim, including funding the expert independent surveyors needed to inspect your property.

In the rare event that your claim does not succeed, our No Win, No Fee agreement protects you from paying our legal fees. We will thoroughly explain the exact terms of your agreement and any protective insurance options before any work begins, ensuring you have total clarity and peace of mind from day one.

No. Under no circumstances should you withhold or stop paying your rent. Even if your landlord is completely ignoring their repair duties, withholding rent puts you in breach of your tenancy agreement and can give your landlord legal grounds to evict you for arrears. Always maintain your rent payments to protect your legal standing.

The law provides strong protections against “retaliatory evictions.” Social housing and council tenants possess highly secure tenancies and cannot be evicted for exercising their legal rights. For private tenants, a landlord cannot easily use a Section 21 “no-fault” eviction notice if a formal housing disrepair process is underway and the local authority’s environmental health team has intervened.

To build an ironclad case against your landlord, the strongest evidence includes:
–Photographs and videos documenting the defects (with close-ups of mould, leaks, or cracks).
–Written proof of notice (copies of emails, text messages, letters, or app screenshots showing you reported the issues to the landlord).
–Doctor’s notes or medical records if the conditions have impacted your health.
-A copy of your active Tenancy Agreement.

Yes. It is vital to maintain a running photographic and video log. Take clear images when the disrepair first appears, and continue taking dated photos over time to prove to the court that the issue is actively worsening and that the landlord has failed to step in.

Once you reach out, our dedicated intake team will review your situation in a free, confidential assessment. If your case meets the threshold for a claim, we will set up your No Win, No Fee funding agreement.

The timeline varies depending on the responsiveness of your landlord and the complexity of the repairs needed. Straightforward cases where the landlord admits liability can be resolved in 3 to 6 months. If a landlord disputes the defects or delays the repairs, cases can take longer. However, our primary objective is always to force emergency repair works through within the first few weeks of engagement.

Yes. Securing a formal legal order compelling your landlord to carry out all necessary repairs to a professional standard is the primary goal of our housing claims. We don’t just fight for your compensation; we fight to make your home safe and habitable.

The vast majority of housing disrepair claims are successfully settled out of court through negotiation. Landlords usually prefer to settle rather than face expensive court trials. If your landlord refuses to cooperate and a court hearing becomes necessary, your dedicated GLP solicitor will manage the entire litigation process and support you every step of the way.

Yes. Your case will be managed by a named specialist within our dedicated housing team. You will have their direct telephone extension and email address from the very start. We keep you updated according to your personal preference, whether that is via phone calls, direct emails, or traditional letters. You will never have to navigate an anonymous call centre.

We adapt our updates entirely to what makes you feel most comfortable. Your assigned specialist will establish your primary point of contact (such as a personal email or direct phone line) at the launch of your claim. We reach out with clear, plain-English notifications at every strategic milestone, ensuring you are never left wondering about the status of your housing case.

Gather whatever documentation you currently have available, such as your tenancy agreement and any recent messages sent to your landlord. If you do not have everything saved, do not worry, contact us anyway, and our housing specialists will advise you on how to request copies of your housing files.

Getting started is quick and simple. You can reach the GLP Solicitors housing team today by calling our freephone number on 0800 111 6370/08009151818/01617641818, emailing us directly at enquiries@glplaw.com, or filling out the secure online enquiry form on our website. We will take over the fight from there.