Repairs and disrepair — Great Places

Before thinking about any legal claim, report the problem and complain to Great Places. It is free, you can do it yourself, 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 need one.

Report the repair. Book most repairs through the MyPlace portal (opens in new tab), use live chat on the Great Places website, or call the Customer Hub on 0300 123 1966 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm).^[11] For an emergency out of hours, call the same number and select option 1.^[11]

Report damp and mould on its own form. Great Places has a separate damp and mould reporting form (opens in new tab). It says it reviews each report within one working day and aims to inspect within 10 working days.^[12]

Then complain, if it isn't fixed. Use the online complaint form (opens in new tab), or complain by email, post or phone.^[7] Great Places acknowledges a complaint within 5 working days and aims to respond at Stage One within 10 working days of that. If you are still unhappy, you can ask for Stage Two, reviewed by a senior leader who did not handle Stage One, with a response within 20 working days of acknowledging it.^[7]

Complain before any claim. Great Places' complaints policy says it may not accept a complaint about an issue that is already the subject of legal action.^[7]

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 ask it for advice at any point. It can order your landlord to carry out repairs, apologise and pay compensation.

Free advice. Shelter and Citizens Advice both give free, independent housing advice at any point. 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, but not normally for a compensation-only claim.

"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 Great Places if all of these apply:

1. Great Places is your landlord. Check your tenancy agreement — the landlord named on it is what counts. The registered provider is Great Places Housing Group Limited.^[1]
2. Great Places knew about the problem. Usually that means you reported it — through MyPlace, live chat, the Customer Hub or the damp and mould form — so keep the booking references, chat transcripts, emails and photos.^[11][12]
3. It failed to fix the problem in a reasonable time. What is "reasonable" depends on the problem. For damp and mould, Awaab's Law sets binding timescales for investigating and making a home safe; those timescales and Great Places' own repair targets are in the FAQs below.^[9][22]
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 a Great Places or Plumlife home, your repair rights depend on your lease — see the shared-owner and leaseholder 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 Great Places 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.

Great Places may put some of this right without a claim. Its repairs policy says that where a repair affects your decoration, the area will be made good afterwards.^[9] The Housing Ombudsman is free to use and can also order compensation: in its 2025-26 Great Places cases, its most common orders were for compensation, an apology or specific action.^[4]

Every case is different, and 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 Great Places did (or didn't do), and how it has affected your household. Photos, MyPlace booking references, any damp and mould inspection summary and Great Places' 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 Great Places formally, and usually arranging an independent inspection of your home. Most disrepair cases settle without anyone going to court.

Great Places' own advice. Great Places has published a notice about disrepair-claim adverts. It asks tenants to report problems to it first, warns that claims companies often charge fees or take a share of any settlement, and advises asking for identification before letting anyone into your home.^[19] Whoever you talk to — us included — you should never be pressed to sign anything on the doorstep, and you can complain to Great Places directly at any stage.

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.^[20] 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.^[20] Even long-running problems can often still be claimed for, but it makes sense to check where you stand rather than assume.

How long a claim takes. Disrepair claims are rarely quick — which is one more reason to keep reporting and complaining to Great Places while any claim runs.