Repairs and disrepair — Onward

Before thinking about any legal claim, complain to Onward. It is free, you can do it yourself, and it is often the fastest way to get repairs moving. It also builds a written record of what you reported and when — the evidence any later claim relies on.

Report the repair. Onward takes repair reports through:

• the My Onward Portal at my.onward.co.uk;
• its phone line, 0300 555 0600 — the line to use for an emergency, at any hour;
• WhatsApp, on 07418 344 603;
• email, to customerservices@onward.co.uk.^[13]

Photos and your repair reference numbers help.

How Onward's complaints process works. Make a complaint through the same routes, or through the complaints page at onward.co.uk/compliments-and-complaints. Onward says it acknowledges a complaint within 5 days and replies at Stage 1 within 10 working days of that.^[11] If you are still unhappy, you can ask for a Stage 2 review by a Director, which Onward aims to answer within 20 working days.^[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 help at any point. It can order your landlord to carry out repairs, apologise and pay compensation, and you need no claims company or solicitor to use it.

Free advice. Shelter and Citizens Advice both 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 later claim stronger, not weaker.

If Onward knew about a problem in your home and did not fix it in a reasonable time, you may have a disrepair claim. "Disrepair" means a problem your landlord is legally responsible for fixing but hasn't fixed. Common examples include:

• damp and mould
• leaks through windows, doors, the roof or from pipes
• a boiler that keeps failing, leaving no heating or hot water
• loose, rotten or draughty windows and doors
• cracked walls, sagging ceilings or other structural faults
• unsafe or faulty electrics.

A claim against Onward usually needs all four of these:

1. Onward is your landlord. Your tenancy agreement names the landlord — for most Onward tenants that is Onward Homes Limited.^[6]
2. Onward knew. A report through the My Onward Portal, an email or a WhatsApp message leaves a dated record; a phone call is worth following up in writing.
3. It didn't fix the problem in a reasonable time. "Reasonable" depends on the problem — Onward's own published timescales, in the FAQs below, give a benchmark.
4. It affected you — your health, your belongings, or your use of part of your home.

Shared owners and leaseholders have rights too, but the route is different — see the shared-owner and leaseholder question in the FAQs below.

A disrepair claim against Onward can deal with two things: getting the work done, and recognising what living with the problem cost your household. The Ombudsman's orders show the same pairing: in a November 2025 decision finding severe maladministration over a window repair, it ordered both compensation and completion of the new window.^[7]

Depending on your situation, a claim may cover:

• the repairs — a court can order Onward to do the work;
• distress and inconvenience — months of living with a leak, a cold room or mould;
• your health — for example a child's breathing condition made worse by damp;
• belongings — bedding, clothes, carpets or furniture spoiled by damp, mould or water;
• rooms you couldn't use — a bedroom given up to mould, or a bathroom out of action.

No honest figure can be put on a claim before someone has looked at the evidence: how bad the disrepair was, how long it lasted after Onward knew, and what it did to your household.

Step 1 — tell us what's happened. You answer a few questions: what is wrong, when you first told Onward, what it did next, and how the problem has affected your household. Portal screenshots, repair references and Onward'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, we connect you with an independent, regulated law firm. If your case needs a solicitor, we will be upfront about that before you commit to anything. The firm then advises you, writes to Onward formally, and usually arranges for an independent surveyor to inspect 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] So a problem that has dragged on for years may still be in time — check rather than assume. A claim usually takes months, not weeks, so keep reporting and chasing Onward's repairs while it runs.