Repairs and disrepair — Aster

Before thinking about any legal claim, report the problem and complain to Aster. It is free, you can do it yourself, and it is often the fastest way to get repairs done. It also creates a written record of what you reported and when — the evidence a claim relies on later, if you ever need one. Aster's own advice is the same: contact its repairs team first, and make a formal complaint if you are still unhappy.^[17]

Report the repair. Report a non-emergency repair through your MyAster account at my.aster.co.uk, or call the contact centre on 0333 400 8222.^[13] For an emergency, phone that number rather than using MyAster.^[13] Keep the job reference, and take dated photos.

How Aster's complaints process works. You can complain by phone, in writing, by email, through MyAster, or with the form at aster.co.uk/contact-us/complaints. Aster says:

• it acknowledges a complaint within 5 working days;
• Stage 1: it gives a written decision within 10 working days of logging the complaint;
• Stage 2: if you are still unhappy, you can ask for Stage 2 within 12 months — a different colleague reviews it, and Aster aims to reply within 20 working days.^[11]

Aster says an extension should not normally go beyond a further 10 working days at Stage 1, or 20 at Stage 2, and it will explain why before the original deadline.^[11]

If the complaint doesn't fix it: the Housing Ombudsman. Once you have been through both stages — or if your complaint is stuck — you can take it to the Housing Ombudsman. It is free and independent, and you can ask it for advice at any stage. It can order your landlord to do repairs, apologise and pay compensation — as it did in an April 2026 damp and mould decision on Aster — and you do not need a claims company or a solicitor to use it.^[4]

Free advice. Shelter and Citizens Advice give free housing advice, and a local law centre can check whether you qualify for legal aid. For disrepair, legal aid can cover making a landlord deal with a serious risk to health or safety, but not normally a compensation-only claim.

Complaining and claiming are not either/or. 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
• blocked or damaged drains
• broken heating or no hot water
• rotten or draughty windows and doors
• cracked walls, unsafe ceilings or other structural problems
• faulty electrics.

Condensation or disrepair? Report damp and mould even if you think it is condensation, and ask what Aster found. Aster says 85% of the damp and mould reports it receives turn out to be condensation rather than a building defect.^[15]

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

1. Aster is your landlord. Check your tenancy agreement — the landlord named on it is what counts. Some homes in the Aster group are let by subsidiaries with their own names.^[16]
2. Aster knew about the problem. Usually that means you reported it — so your MyAster reports, emails, photos and repair reference numbers matter. Keep them.
3. It failed to fix the problem in a reasonable time. What is "reasonable" depends on the problem — Aster's own published timescales, in the FAQs below, are a useful 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 Aster building, 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 Aster 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.

No reliable figure can be put on a claim before the evidence has been looked at.

Step 1 — tell us what's happened. You answer some straightforward questions: what the problem is, when you reported it, what Aster did (or didn't do), and how it has affected your household. Photos, repair references and complaint responses 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, 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 Aster 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.^[18] 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.^[18] Go in with a realistic timescale, too: disrepair claims usually take months rather than weeks to resolve, and some take longer — one more reason to keep pressing for the repairs while any claim runs.