The mould is back, the boiler limps along, and your landlord has stopped replying. Somewhere around the third ignored email, the same thought occurs to most renters. Stop paying rent until they fix it. It feels fair. It is also one of the fastest ways to hand your landlord a legal advantage.
In England there is no general right to withhold rent because repairs are outstanding. Your duty to pay rent and your landlord's duty to repair are separate obligations, and breaking yours does not suspend theirs. There is a narrow, lawful way to use rent money for repairs, and a stronger route to compensation that never puts your home at risk. This guide covers both.
Can my landlord evict me for withholding rent in England?
Yes, if the arrears build up far enough. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 raised the bar on 1 May 2026, but the mandatory ground survived. Under Ground 8 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, a judge must order possession if you owe at least 3 months' rent (13 weeks if you pay weekly or fortnightly) both on the day the notice is served and again at the court hearing. The notice period is 4 weeks.
So withhold £1,400 a month for 3 months and you have built your landlord's case for them. A judge has no discretion under Ground 8, and "the repairs were never done" is not, on its own, an answer to the arrears figure.
One carve-out helps Universal Credit claimants. Arrears that exist only because a housing payment has not arrived yet are ignored.
Below 3 months, discretionary Grounds 10 and 11 still cover smaller arrears and persistent late payment. Either way, a rent strike means defending a possession claim you invited.
If arrears have already built up, disrepair damages can be set off against them in possession proceedings, so a strong counterclaim can shrink or wipe the debt. Keep paying current rent while the case runs. We cover the thresholds in the 3-month arrears rule for Ground 8 evictions.
How to pay for repairs yourself and take the cost off your rent
There is a common law right, confirmed in Lee-Parker v Izzet [1971] 1 WLR 1688, to do the repairs yourself and recover the cost from future rent. It only covers work your landlord was legally responsible for. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 that means the structure and exterior of your home plus the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, heating and hot water. And it only protects you if you follow the steps carefully:
- Tell your landlord about the disrepair in writing and keep a copy.
- Wait a reasonable period. A dead boiler in January might mean days, a cracked fence panel weeks.
- Write again, saying that if the work is not done by a set date you will arrange it yourself and deduct the cost from rent.
- Get quotes from at least 2 reputable contractors and send your landlord copies, with a final deadline.
- If nothing happens, have the cheapest contractor do the work and keep every receipt.
- Send your landlord the receipts and set out exactly how the cost will come off future rent payments.
Notice the catch. You pay the contractor upfront and recoup the money afterwards, which makes this a route for smaller jobs, not a £6,000 roof. Skip a step and you lose the protection. Deduct more than the receipted cost and the difference is ordinary arrears.
Is a disrepair compensation claim better than withholding rent?
Usually, yes. On top of the section 11 repair duty, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 says your home must be fit to live in throughout the tenancy. Once your landlord knows about a problem and fails to fix it within a reasonable time, you can claim damages, typically a percentage of your rent for every month the problem lasted, plus provable losses like ruined belongings or higher heating bills.
That gets you the same economic result a rent strike aims at, a rent reduction for the affected period, without you missing a payment. The court can also order the landlord to do the works. Our guides on the housing disrepair protocol and how much disrepair compensation is worth walk through the process and the figures.
Keep paying rent while you claim. A clean rent record keeps you the claimant. Arrears turn you into a defendant with a counterclaim.
Can I get a rent repayment order for disrepair?
No, and the two get confused constantly. A rent repayment order lets a tenant reclaim up to 2 years' rent through the First-tier Tribunal, but only where the landlord committed a specific offence, such as running an unlicensed HMO, illegal eviction or harassment. Poor conditions alone do not qualify.
If your landlord needed a licence and never got one, check who qualifies for a rent repayment order. For everyone else, disrepair money comes as compensation through a damages claim, not as repaid rent.
What to do this week if your landlord ignores repairs
Keep paying your rent. Then build the record that wins claims.
- Report every problem in writing, by email or text, with dated photos and videos.
- Give your landlord a written deadline to respond that is fair for the type of repair.
- For serious hazards like damp and mould, report the property to your council's environmental health team.
- If the deadline passes, send a letter before action under the disrepair pre-action protocol. Many landlords settle at this stage.
A rent strike risks your home for a result a compensation claim gets you anyway. If your landlord has been ignoring repairs, Remedy can check whether you have a disrepair claim and what it might be worth. The check is free and takes a couple of minutes.
