Recent figures show that 525,000 social homes currently do not meet the national decent home standard – that is almost 1 in 7 of all social homes in England, 244,000 properties are deemed to have a category one safety hazard, the highest category or risk*.

*Data provided by the government-commissioned English Housing Survey which can be viewed here:  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2015-to-2016-headline-report/.

When you can claim compensation

You can take legal action to claim compensation during your tenancy or after it ends. You have up to 6 years (or 3 years for a personal injury claim), starting from the time your landlord should have carried out the repair. If you start your claim during your tenancy, you can also ask the court to order your landlord to do repair work.

You can’t take legal action for compensation unless you report the repair problem to your landlord during your tenancy. You should keep records about the disrepair problem in your home to support your compensation claim. These could include:

• letters or emails sent to and from your landlord about the issue
• photographs of the repair problem
• medical records showing how your health has been affected
• receipts for replacements of damaged or destroyed items
• a report from the council’s environmental health team

What you can claim for

You can make a claim for compensation if the repair problems in your home:

• damaged your belongings
• made the health of you or someone in your household worse
• caused you inconvenience or left you unable to use all of your home

Landlord’s repair responsibilities

Your landlord is responsible for most repairs in your home. This applies to private, council and housing association landlords.

Your landlord’s responsibilities for repair include:

• the structure and exterior of the building, including the walls, stairs and bannisters, roof, external doors and windows
• sinks, baths, toilets, pipes and drains
• heating and hot water
• fixing chimneys and ventilation if they fall into disrepair (although you’ll have to keep them clear of blockages)
• gas appliances
• electrical wiring
• common parts of a building, such as entrance halls, communal stairways and shared kitchens.

Your landlord must also put right any damage to internal decorations caused by repair problems they are responsible for or while repairs were carried out.

Check what your tenancy agreement says

Your tenancy agreement includes details about who is responsible for repairs and could say if your landlord is responsible for repairing or replacing faulty items or appliances they provided such as a fridge or washing machine.  However, your landlord must do the repairs the law says they are responsible for, even if your agreement says something different.

Your tenancy agreement may say when or how often certain types of repairs will be done.

It may say that you have some responsibilities, for example keeping the garden tidy or sharing the cleaning of communal stairways and halls.

Landlord’s responsibility for health and safety

Your landlord should make sure that your home is free from any hazards that could affect the health and safety of anyone in your household.  Health hazards can include:

• damp and mould
• pests and vermin
• Gas safety – your landlord is responsible for making sure gas appliances are safe and inspected annually by a Gas Safe engineer.
• Electrical appliances – your landlord must make sure electrical appliances and wiring in your home are safe. It’s your responsibility as a tenant to check that any appliances you own are in safe working order.
• Fire safety – most private landlords are responsible for installing:

1. smoke alarms on each floor of your home
2. carbon monoxide detectors in rooms with a coal fire or wood burning stove

Report repairs to your landlord

You should report any repairs to your landlord as soon as possible because your landlord doesn’t have to fix repair problems in your home until they know about them.

Keep records

Make sure you keep a record of all your contact with your landlord about the repair problem. This can include:

• copies of letters and emails you’ve sent and received from your landlord
• dates of any visits to your home from your landlord
• date and time of phone calls made to your landlord, and what was said

Compensation for your belongings

You can claim compensation for items of yours that were damaged or destroyed because of your landlord’s failure to carry out repairs. For example, clothing and bedding ruined by mould or furniture damaged by water leaks.  You can also claim compensation for your belongings that were damaged during repair works. You can claim the cost of replacing items that were damaged or destroyed. If you’ve already bought replacements, keep any receipts and submit them as evidence as part of your claim. This might only be the second-hand value of the goods, unless it’s not possible or reasonable to buy second-hand replacements.

Damage to health

You can claim compensation if you or anyone in your household health was made worse as a result of the landlord’s failure to carry out repairs. The health problems can be physical or mental. Keep any doctor’s notes or hospital reports that show how your health has been affected. The amount of damages you can claim mainly depends on how the repair problem affected your health and for how long.

If you were unable to work you could claim for loss of earnings and for any extra care you needed.

Inconvenience

You can claim compensation if you’ve suffered inconvenience or have not been able to use your home in the normal way as a result of:

• the landlord’s failure to repair your home
• significant disruption during the repair work

How much compensation you can get depends on the level of disrepair, the rent you pay and the level of inconvenience you’ve suffered.

Reduction of rent

You can claim a reduction or refund of rent if you haven’t been able to use part or all of your home because of the disrepair. You can claim this even if your rent has been paid by housing benefit or universal credit. The amount you can ask for depends on how much of your home can’t be lived in, for example, if you can only use half of your home, the court may decide that your rent should be reduced or refunded by 50%.

Helping you and your claim

If you think you have a claim for housing disrepair, remember you can start court action to claim compensation during your tenancy or up to 6 years after it ends, 3 years for any injury it has caused.

Before starting legal action, you must make sure you have reported the repairs and given your landlord time to complete them. You will need to gather all the evidence needed to back up your claim.

Firstly, you need to get in touch with us via the contact form, email or by phone.  You will then speak to one of our advisors who will do an assessment.  After this we will arrange for someone to visit you at home and take pictures of any damage.  After we have documentary evidence, Trafford Law will evaluate your Housing Disrepair compensation claims to determine whether you have a valid claim or not. If you have, then we will work on your case free of charge on a “no win no fee” basis. Your solicitor will then proceed to gather as much evidence needed to notify the negligent party by sending a letter of claim. A letter of claim will set out the details of your disrepair and your claim will then follow a certain protocol.

A “No Win No Fee” is ensuring your legal costs are covered when claiming compensation for a housing disrepair. This means if your case is unsuccessful you will not have to pay a penny. You only pay when your case is successful and the cost would be simply deducted from your compensation.  This amount will never exceed 25% of your total compensation.