Council House Disrepair Claims
You've logged it, chased it, and waited in for repair visits that never came. Councils and housing associations have exactly the same repair duties as private landlords, and fewer excuses. If yours has left your home in disrepair, we'll claim compensation and put a legal deadline behind the work.
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Your rights as a social housing tenant
Whether your landlord is the council or a housing association, the law treats them like any other landlord: they must keep the structure, heating, plumbing, sanitation and electrics of your home in repair, and the property must be fit to live in. Lack of budget is not a legal defence for leaving you in a damp, cold or unsafe home.
In practice, social tenants often face something worse than a flat refusal: endless logging, inspecting and rescheduling while nothing actually gets fixed. A disrepair claim cuts through that. It puts a legal deadline, and real consequences, behind the repairs you've been chasing for months.
Evidence that strengthens your claim
No photos? Nothing in writing? We can still help. But anything you can dig out now makes your claim stronger:
- Photos and videos of the problem, however rough
- Anything you've sent your landlord: emails, letters, texts
- GP or hospital records, if your health suffered
- Receipts or photos of ruined belongings
Your landlord's legal responsibility
Social landlords are bound by section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 in exactly the same way as private landlords. Once you've reported disrepair, they must fix it within a reasonable time, and their own published repair timescales are often the yardstick they're measured against.
As a secure or assured tenant, you also have some of the strongest eviction protection in housing law. Claiming against your council or housing association does not put your tenancy at risk. A large share of the claims we handle are against social landlords.
What a successful claim gets you
Compensation
A payment for what you've had to live with, usually worked out as a percentage of your rent, plus money back for ruined belongings: clothes, furniture, carpets and more.
The repairs, completed
A binding commitment that forces your landlord to fix the problem properly. No more promises, no more missed appointments.
Council House Disrepair Claims: FAQs
Can the council evict me for making a claim?
No. Secure and assured tenants have strong legal protection against eviction, and removing a tenant for requesting repairs or bringing a claim is a retaliatory eviction the law does not allow. Making a disrepair claim is simply exercising a legal right. Your tenancy is not at risk for doing it.
Are housing associations covered by the same rules as councils?
Yes. Both are social landlords with identical repairing obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. It makes no difference to your rights which one holds your tenancy.
Do I have to go through the complaints process first?
Broadly, yes. The courts expect social housing tenants to give their landlord a fair chance to put things right first, under what's called the pre-action protocol. That doesn't mean years of being fobbed off: it's a defined process with deadlines, and we guide you through it as part of your claim.
My housing officer keeps ignoring me. What can I do?
Keep reporting the problem in writing and escalate it as a formal complaint. Every ignored email and missed appointment becomes evidence. For damp, mould and emergencies, Awaab's Law now sets fixed legal deadlines for social landlords in England: emergencies within 24 hours, and significant damp and mould investigated within 10 working days. Once we take on your claim, the chasing stops being your job: your landlord deals with solicitors instead, and deadlines start to carry legal weight.
Can I claim if my rent is paid by housing benefit or Universal Credit?
Yes. Your rights are identical whether you pay the rent yourself or benefits cover some or all of it, and compensation is still worked out against the rent for your home, typically 25% to 50% of it for the affected period. Our free calculator gives you an instant estimate.
See how much you could claim
Answer a few quick questions about your rent, the problems and how long you've lived with them, and you'll get an instant estimate. Confidential, no obligation, no pressure.