Repairs and disrepair — Vico Homes

Before thinking about any legal claim, report the problem and complain to Vico Homes. It is free, you can do it yourself, and it is often the fastest way to get repairs done. It also builds a written record of what you reported and when.

Reporting a repair. Report an emergency — a flood, a complete loss of heating or hot water, or a home you cannot secure — by phone on 0345 8 507 507. Log a general repair through the online form in your Vico Homes account (myaccount.vicohomes.co.uk), on the same number, or at one of Vico Homes' hubs.^[10] Its target time for each kind of repair is in the FAQs below.

Complaining. Complain by phone on 0345 8 507 507, through the complaints form on its website, in writing, or at a hub.^[8] Vico Homes first tries to sort a problem out as a "service request". It says it will come back to you within 3 working days with an outcome or next steps.^[8] You do not have to wait for that: under the Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code, whenever you say you are unhappy, Vico Homes must give you the choice to make a formal complaint.^[6] A formal complaint goes through a two-stage process.^[8]

1. Stage 1. Vico Homes acknowledges the complaint within 5 working days and aims to reply in writing within 10.^[8]
2. Stage 2. If you are still unhappy, ask for Stage 2 within 20 working days of the Stage 1 reply. A senior manager in its Customer Relations Team reviews the complaint and replies in writing within 20 working days.^[8]

Then the Housing Ombudsman. Once you have been through both stages — or if your complaint is not progressing — you can take it to the Housing Ombudsman. It is free and independent, and you can ask it for advice at any point. It can order repairs, an apology and compensation, and nobody takes a fee from what it awards. Vico Homes' own complaints guide says it must comply with what the Ombudsman decides.^[8]

Free advice. Shelter and Citizens Advice give free housing advice. 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 Vico Homes if all of these apply:

1. Vico Homes is your landlord. Check your tenancy agreement. If it was signed before April 2025 it will probably name WDH or Wakefield and District Housing — the same landlord under its old name.^[11]
2. Vico Homes 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 — Vico Homes' own published targets, 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 in a Vico Homes home, you have rights too, though the route is a little different — see the shared-owner question in the FAQs below.

A housing disrepair claim does two jobs: it can get the repairs done, and it can recognise what living with the problem has cost you. Depending on your situation, a claim against Vico Homes may cover:

• the repairs — a court can order Vico Homes to carry out the work it is responsible for;
• distress and inconvenience — living for months with a leak, cold rooms or mould;
• your health — for example, asthma or another breathing condition made worse by damp;
• belongings — carpets, furniture, bedding or clothes spoiled by damp or water;
• rooms you could not use — a bedroom closed off by mould, or a bathroom out of action.

These are also the kinds of harm the Housing Ombudsman weighs. In a January 2025 decision about damp and mould in a WDH home, it ordered compensation for the distress, inconvenience, and time and trouble the resident had been caused.^[4]

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

Step 1 — tell us what's happened. Answer a few plain questions: what is wrong, when you reported it, what was done, and how it has affected your household. If you first reported it before April 2025, that report went to WDH — say so. Repair reference numbers, photos and any complaint responses all help.^[11]

Step 2 — get your free report. We check your answers against the legal tests on this page and tell you in writing 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 Vico Homes formally and usually arranges an independent survey of your home. Many disrepair cases settle without a court hearing.

Time limits. A disrepair claim is usually treated as a contract claim, which has a six-year limitation period from when the landlord should have done the repair.^[12] Any part of the claim for harm to health — a breathing problem made worse by damp, say — usually has a shorter three-year limit.^[12] Problems that have gone on a long time can often still be claimed for, so check rather than assume. Claims can take many months, so keep pressing for repairs through Vico Homes' complaints process while one runs.