Repairs and disrepair — Accent

Before thinking about any legal claim, report the repair to Accent and, if it is not put right, complain. It is free, you can do it yourself, and it is often the fastest way to get repairs moving.

Reporting a repair. Report a non-urgent repair with the online form on Accent's repairs page (opens in new tab), or by email to Repairs.Team@AccentGroup.org. For an urgent or emergency repair, call 0345 678 0555 and ask for the Technical Hub. Emergency repairs can be reported on that number 24 hours a day, seven days a week.^[13]

Damp and mould. Call the same number and ask for the Technical Hub. Accent says coordinators track each case, and surveyors check the work when it is done and again three months later.^[14]

Making a complaint. Use Accent's online complaints form (opens in new tab), email customerservices@accentgroup.org, or call the same number, 0345 678 0555, on weekdays between 8am and 6pm.^[12] Accent says it:

• acknowledges a complaint within 5 working days;
• aims to answer at Stage 1 within 10 working days;
• aims to answer at Stage 2, if you are still unhappy, within 20 working days — or up to 20 more in a complex case, telling you if so.^[12]

If the complaint doesn't fix it: the Housing Ombudsman. Once you have been through both stages, you can take the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman. It is free and independent, and you can contact it for advice at any point, not just at the end. It can order your landlord to carry out repairs, apologise and pay compensation.

Free advice. Shelter and Citizens Advice offer free housing advice, and a local law centre can tell you whether you qualify for legal aid. For disrepair, legal aid can be available to make a landlord deal with a serious risk to health or safety, though not normally for a compensation-only claim.

Complaining and claiming are not either/or. Complaining first is the right move in almost every case — and if the repairs still don't happen, the record you have built makes any claim stronger, not weaker.

"Disrepair" means problems with your home that your landlord is legally responsible for fixing but hasn't. Common examples include:

• damp and mould
• leaks — from the roof, pipes, or a flat above
• broken heating or no hot water
• rotten or draughty windows and doors
• cracked walls, unsafe ceilings or other structural problems
• faulty electrics.

You may have a claim against Accent if all of these apply:

1. Accent is your landlord. Its homes are owned by Accent Housing Limited, the group's landlord company, so that is the name you may see on your tenancy agreement.^[4]
2. Accent knew about the problem. Usually that means you reported it — so keep your texts, emails, photos and repair reference numbers.
3. It failed to fix the problem in a reasonable time. What is "reasonable" depends on the problem — Accent's own repair targets, in the FAQs below, are a guide.
4. You were affected — for example, your health suffered, your belongings were damaged, or part of your home became unusable.

If you are a shared owner or a leaseholder in an Accent home, you have rights too, though the route is different — see the shared-owner question in the FAQs below.

A housing disrepair claim can deal with two things: getting the repairs done, and recognising what living with the problem has cost you. Depending on your situation, a claim may cover:

• the repairs themselves — a court can order Accent to carry out the work;
• inconvenience and distress — compensation may be sought for the disruption of living with the problem;
• effects on health — for example where damp and mould have made a breathing condition worse;
• damaged belongings — clothes, furniture, carpets or electronics ruined by damp, mould or leaks;
• loss of use of part of your home — such as a bedroom or bathroom you could not safely use.

Accent may put some of this right without a claim. Its compensation policy, adopted in June 2026, allows payments for distress and inconvenience caused by a service failure, and for evidenced costs such as damaged belongings or higher utility bills.^[15]

Every case is different, and no reliable figure can be put on a claim before the evidence has been looked at. An assessment starts from your record: what was reported, when, and what happened next.

Step 1 — tell us what's happened. You answer a few plain questions: what is wrong, when you told Accent, what it did or didn't do, and how the problem has affected your household. Photos, repair reference numbers and Accent's complaint replies all help.

Step 2 — get your free report. We assess your answers against the legal tests on this page and give you a clear written view of whether you may have a claim and how strong it looks. Your first conversation with us is always free.

Step 3 — if your case is strong. If your case needs a solicitor, we connect you with an independent, regulated law firm — and we will be upfront about that before you commit to anything. They take it from there: advising you, notifying Accent formally, and usually arranging an independent inspection of your home. Most disrepair cases settle without anyone going to court.

A note on time limits. A disrepair claim is normally treated as a contract claim, with a limitation period of six years from when the landlord should have fixed the problem.^[17] Where part of the claim is for an injury to health — damp-related breathing problems, for instance — that element usually carries a shorter, three-year limit instead.^[17] Even long-running problems can often still be claimed for, but it makes sense to check where you stand rather than assume. Disrepair claims usually take months rather than weeks to resolve, which is one more reason to complain first and keep pressing for repairs while any claim runs.