Repairs and disrepair — First Choice Homes Oldham

Before thinking about any legal claim, report the problem and complain to First Choice Homes Oldham. It is free, and it is often the fastest way to get repairs moving. It also creates a written record of what you reported and when — the evidence a claim relies on later, if you ever need one.

Report the repair. Use My Account (opens in new tab), which takes repairs 24/7, or call the contact centre on 0161 393 7117. Ask for the repair order number and keep it.^[13]

In an emergency. Call 0161 393 7117 at any time; outside office hours the call goes through to the out-of-hours service, which deals with emergencies only. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999. If you smell gas, leave the house and call the National Gas Emergencies number, 0800 111 999.^[13]

Report damp and mould early. First Choice Homes Oldham asks tenants to report damp or mould by phone as soon as they see it. It says it will inspect within 10 working days of a report where an inspection is needed.^[15]

Make a complaint. Complain through the complaints page (opens in new tab), by email to tellus@fcho.co.uk, by phone on 0161 393 7117, by post to FCHO Tellus, First Place, 22 Union Street, Oldham OL1 1BE, or in person at First Place.^[11] First Choice Homes Oldham acknowledges a complaint within 5 working days at each stage. From that acknowledgement, it aims to answer Stage 1 within 10 working days and Stage 2 within 20 working days.^[11]

Complain early. First Choice Homes Oldham may turn down a complaint made 12 months or more after the problem happened, though it looks at each case, for example where there is a health and safety concern.^[12]

If the complaint doesn't fix it: the Housing Ombudsman. After Stage 2, you can take the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman, and you can ask it for advice at any stage.^[11] It is free and independent, and it can order a landlord to do repairs, apologise and pay compensation.

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

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

• damp and mould
• leaks from the roof, gutters or pipes
• broken heating or no hot water
• faulty electrics
• rotten or draughty windows and doors
• cracked walls or unsafe floors and stairs.

You may have a claim against First Choice Homes Oldham if all of these apply:

1. First Choice Homes Oldham is your landlord. The landlord named on your tenancy agreement is what counts: First Choice Homes Oldham Limited.^[1]
2. It knew about the problem. Usually that means you reported it — so keep texts, emails, photos and repair order numbers.
3. It failed to fix the problem in a reasonable time. What is reasonable depends on the problem; its own published timescales, in the FAQs below, are a useful guide.
4. You were affected — your health suffered, belongings were damaged, or part of your home became unusable.

What First Choice Homes Oldham says. Its repairs pages ask tenants to tell it about a problem before making a disrepair claim, and warn that dealing with claims companies can bring hidden costs.^[13] Its complaints policy says a complaint about the service can still be looked at while a claim is under way.^[12]

A shared owner or leaseholder? Your lease, not a tenancy agreement, sets out which repairs First Choice Homes Oldham must do. Shelter or Citizens Advice can explain where you stand.

A claim aims to get the work done and to recognise what living with the problem has cost you. Depending on what happened, a claim may cover:

• an order to do the work — a court can require First Choice Homes Oldham to carry out the repairs;
• the impact on daily life — the inconvenience and distress of living with the disrepair;
• harm to health — for example a chest condition made worse by damp and mould;
• ruined belongings — clothes, bedding, carpets or furniture spoiled by damp or leaks;
• rooms you could not use — a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen that was unsafe or unusable.

Nobody can give a reliable figure before looking at the evidence. The value turns on how bad the disrepair was, how long First Choice Homes Oldham took after it knew, and the effect on you and your household.

Compensation through the complaints process is different. First Choice Homes Oldham can offer compensation through its complaints process for service failure, distress and inconvenience, but its policy says that does not cover legal damages for disrepair.^[12] Accepting an offer is your choice. If the problem has gone on a long time, Shelter or Citizens Advice can help you weigh it up.

Step 1 — tell us what's happened. You answer some straightforward questions about the problem, when you reported it to First Choice Homes Oldham, what it did, and how it has affected you. Repair order numbers, My Account history, photos and its Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaint letters all help.^[11][13] If you have damp or mould, note the date of any inspection and what First Choice Homes Oldham said it would do next.^[15]

Step 2 — get your free report. We check your answers against the legal tests on this page and give you a 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. The firm advises you, writes to First Choice Homes Oldham formally, and usually arranges an independent survey of your home. Most disrepair cases settle without a court hearing.

A note on time limits. A disrepair claim is normally treated as a contract claim, and because an unfixed repair is usually a continuing breach, a claim can usually reach back six years from when it is issued.^[18] Where part of the claim is for an injury to health, that part usually has a shorter, three-year limit.^[18] Claims take months rather than weeks, so keep reporting repairs while any claim runs.