How to handle a housing disrepair case

What counts as housing disrepair

Disrepair is when part of your home is broken, damaged or unsafe and it is your landlord's job to put it right. Damp and mould, a leaking roof or pipes, broken heating or hot water, faulty wiring, a front door that will not lock, infestations that come from the state of the building. All of these count.

The simple test: if something is unsafe or has stopped working and your landlord is responsible for it, it is usually disrepair. Fair wear and tear, and damage you caused yourself, are a different matter.

Your landlord cannot sign these core duties away in the tenancy agreement. A clause that says repairs are down to you does not override the law, whatever it claims.

One limit is worth knowing. The duty is to repair, which means putting something back to working order, not to upgrade it. Your landlord has to mend a broken single-glazed window, but does not have to swap it for double glazing, and a dated but working kitchen is not disrepair. The exception is the higher bar of fitness to live in, below, which a landlord does have to meet however old the home is.

The most common types of disrepair

Disrepair shows up in a handful of familiar shapes. Here are the ones we see most often, what each usually involves, and whether it is your landlord's job to put right. Open any one for the detail.

• Damp and mould

  Black mould creeping across walls or ceilings, a musty smell, or plaster that stays wet. Where it comes from a leak, rising damp or poor ventilation it is your landlord's responsibility, and serious damp can make a home unfit to live in whatever the cause.

  Damp and mould and your landlord's obligations

• Broken heating or no hot water

  A dead boiler, radiators that will not heat, or no hot water coming through. Heating and hot water are core Section 11 duties, so this is squarely your landlord's job, and losing heating in winter counts as an urgent repair.

  What to do if your landlord won't fix the boiler

• Faulty or dangerous electrics

  Exposed wiring, sockets that trip or scorch, or rooms with no power. The fixed electrics are your landlord's responsibility, and they must hold a valid electrical safety report (an EICR) renewed at least every 5 years.

  Landlord electrical safety obligations

• Gas safety problems

  A faulty gas appliance, a missing annual gas safety check, or a smell of gas. Your landlord must have every gas appliance checked each year by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and a missing certificate is a criminal offence.

  Gas safety certificate breaches and compensation

• Leaks and water damage

  A leaking roof, overflow or pipe, water staining the ceiling, or windows that let the rain in. Anything to do with the structure and the pipework behind your walls is your landlord's to fix, and a slow leak is often what feeds damp and mould.

  What your landlord must fix when water leaks in

• Plumbing, drains and sanitation

  Blocked drains, a toilet that will not flush, a sink or bath that will not drain, or no running water. The basins, sinks, baths, toilets and the pipes that serve them all sit with your landlord under Section 11.

  Whose job is a blocked drain or broken toilet

• Pest infestations

  Rats, mice, cockroaches or bedbugs getting in because of the state of the building, such as gaps in the brickwork, broken air bricks or faulty drains. Where the infestation traces back to disrepair, dealing with it is your landlord's job.

  When your landlord is responsible for pests

• Structural problems

  Cracks spreading across the walls, a sagging or collapsing ceiling, crumbling plaster, or rotten window frames and doors. The structure and exterior of the building are squarely your landlord's responsibility.

  Cracks, plaster and subsidence explained

• Broken windows, doors and locks

  Windows that will not open or close safely, rotten frames, or an external door or lock that will not secure. External doors and windows are part of the structure your landlord must keep in repair, and a door that will not lock is a safety risk too.

  Broken windows, doors and locks explained

• A cold home or poor insulation

  A home you cannot keep warm because of draughts, failed insulation, or heating that simply cannot cope. Severe cold is a recognised hazard and can make a home unfit to live in, which your landlord has to put right.

  Claiming for a home that is unfit to live in

Whichever of these you are dealing with, the rest of this guide works the same way: report it in writing, give a fair deadline, gather your evidence, and escalate if you have to.

Is your landlord legally responsible for the repair

A handful of laws sit behind almost every disrepair case. They cover renters on an ordinary private or social tenancy. If you are a lodger who shares the home with your landlord, most of these duties do not apply and your rights are far more limited, so it is worth checking where you stand with Remedy first. For everyone else, you never have to quote these laws, but it helps to know what each one gives you.

• Repairs to the building and its services

  Your landlord must keep the structure, outside, heating, water and electrics in repair, whoever the tenant is.

  Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11

• A home that is fit to live in

  Your home has to be fit to live in for the whole tenancy. If it is not, you can take your landlord to court without waiting for the council.

  Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

• Action on serious hazards

  Serious hazards like damp, cold and mould have to be dealt with, and Awaab's Law is putting landlords on fixed deadlines, starting with social housing.

  Housing Act 2004 and Awaab's Law

• Gas and electrical safety

  Gas appliances must be checked every year and the fixed wiring at least every 5 years, with the certificates handed to you.

  Gas and electrical safety regulations

One rule runs through most of this. For a problem inside your home, your landlord is generally only in breach once they know about it, so reporting it, and being able to prove you did, is what starts the clock.

How to report a repair to your landlord

Most disrepair claims that fail do so for one reason. The tenant cannot prove they told the landlord. So put every report in writing, even when you also pick up the phone. A text or email is fine, a letter is better for something serious. After a call, follow up with a message that sets out what you discussed.

How long is reasonable depends on the problem. No heating or hot water in winter, a gas leak, or dangerous wiring should be same day or next day. A couple of weeks is a fair starting point for most other repairs. Keep your tone calm and factual. You are building a record, not winning an argument.

Gas and electrical safety checks your landlord must do

Two safety checks are not optional, and a missing one is a sign your landlord is cutting corners. Every gas appliance must be checked once a year by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and you should get the record within 28 days. The fixed wiring must be inspected at least every 5 years, and you should get a copy of that report too.

A missing certificate is worth flagging even if your main complaint is something else. It strengthens the wider picture, and for gas it is a criminal offence by your landlord.

What evidence you need for a disrepair claim

Evidence is what turns "my landlord is useless" into a case. Start gathering it the day you notice the problem, not the day you decide to act.

You do not need all of this to begin. A handful of photos and a paper trail of ignored messages is often enough to get things moving.

What to do if your landlord ignores you

If reporting it and giving a fair deadline has not worked, you have official routes that cost you nothing and create a record your landlord cannot wave away.

Your local council's environmental health team can inspect the property under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which scores hazards as category 1 (serious) or category 2 (less serious). If they find a category 1 hazard, the law requires them to act. They can serve an improvement notice ordering the work done, though it cannot require the work to start for less than 28 days. They can ban the use of part of the home with a prohibition order. Where the risk is imminent, they can carry out emergency remedial action themselves and send your landlord the bill. The council acts independently of your landlord, and its findings become strong evidence if your case goes further. The steps are in how to report a landlord to the council.

If you rent from a council or housing association, the Housing Ombudsman can investigate and order compensation once you have been through the landlord's own complaints process. Private landlords are being brought into a similar redress scheme under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, so this route is widening.

How damp and mould claims work

Damp and mould is the most common disrepair complaint, and the rules around it have tightened. The cause matters far less than landlords often suggest.

Penetrating damp, where water gets in through a wall or roof, and rising damp are both building faults, so they sit squarely with your landlord. Condensation damp is sometimes blamed on the tenant for not heating or ventilating the home. But if the place has poor ventilation, no extractor fans, or heating that cannot cope, that points straight back at the building.

Under the fitness for habitation rules, serious damp and mould can make a home unfit to live in whatever the cause. If anyone in the home has started wheezing or coughing, see a GP and keep the note. For the detail, see damp and mould landlord obligations and tenant claims and what private renters can claim under Awaab's Law.

How the pre-action protocol and a court claim work

Most cases never reach a courtroom. The credible threat of one, done properly, is usually enough. England has a set route for getting there, the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims. It is a sequence of steps both sides are expected to follow before a judge is involved, and it is where a lot of landlords finally act.

If it does reach court, you would usually use the County Court, which can both order the repairs and award compensation. For lower-value claims, the small claims track keeps the cost and risk down. The full step by step is in the housing disrepair protocol guide.

How much compensation you can claim for disrepair

Compensation for disrepair is usually worked out as a share of your rent for the time the problem lasted. The worse the disrepair and the longer it dragged on, the bigger the share. A home you could barely use sits at the top of the range, a minor nuisance at the bottom.

On top of that rent-based figure, you can claim for what the disrepair cost you directly. A sofa ruined by damp, higher heating bills, a few nights in a hotel while the home was unliveable. If your health suffered and you have medical evidence, that can add a further award.

Two time limits matter. You generally have 6 years to bring a claim for the disrepair itself, and 3 years for any personal injury part of it. For a fuller breakdown of amounts by problem, see how much compensation you can claim for disrepair.

Can your landlord evict you for asking for repairs

This is the fear that keeps a lot of renters quiet, and the ground has shifted in your favour. From 1 May 2026 in England, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 scrapped the Section 21 "no-fault" eviction. Your landlord can no longer ask you to leave for no reason, which is the route a retaliatory eviction used to take.

A landlord now needs a valid legal ground to end your tenancy, and "they complained about the mould" is not one. Pushing a tenant out for asking for repairs is exactly what the new rules are built to stop.

That does not make you untouchable, and a landlord can still seek possession on genuine grounds. But asking for a repair you are entitled to should not put your home at risk. In Wales the position is different: no-fault eviction has not been abolished, but a landlord using the no-fault route under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 must give you at least 6 months' notice, and retaliatory eviction is separately restricted. There is more on where you stand in retaliation eviction and your tenant rights.

Mistakes that can weaken a disrepair claim

A few common missteps hand your landlord an easy defence. Avoiding them costs you nothing.

• Keeping it verbal. A phone call you cannot prove is worth little. Put it in writing.
• Refusing access. Your landlord has to be let in to inspect and repair. Blocking visits lets them argue you stopped them fixing it.
• Waiting months to report. The duty to repair starts when you tell them, so a long silence shortens the period you can claim for and weakens the picture.