Repairs and disrepair — Waltham Forest Council

Report the repair through the council's report a repair page (opens in new tab), online through the Resident Portal or by phone.^[7] Keep the reference number, your photos and any replies. If repairs are delayed, make a formal complaint. It is free, and the written record helps if you later need to take things further.

Waltham Forest's complaints process. Follow the council's complaints process for housing services (opens in new tab). For its landlord services, such as repairs, the stage 1 response is due within 10 working days. If you are unhappy with the answer, ask for a stage 2 review, due within 20 working days.^[9]

The Housing Ombudsman. If the council's process ends without resolving things, or it is not progressing your complaint, contact the Ombudsman. You can ask it for advice at any point. It can order repairs, an apology and compensation. The service is free: you can use it yourself without paying a solicitor or giving anyone a share of an award. The Ombudsman has already investigated Waltham Forest's repairs and complaint handling.^[3]

Shelter and Citizens Advice offer free housing advice. A law centre can check whether you qualify for legal aid to address disrepair that seriously risks health or safety. It is not normally available for compensation alone.

Awaab's Law. The first phase sets deadlines for emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards; the FAQs below explain the repair timescales.^[13] From 30 November 2026, a further phase will extend the significant-hazard requirements to more hazards, including excess cold, fire and electrical hazards. It is not yet in force.^[14]

"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 Waltham Forest Council if all of these apply:

1. Waltham Forest Council is your landlord — you are a council tenant (if you rent from a housing association or a private landlord, your claim is against them, not the council).
2. The council knew about the problem. Usually that means you reported it — so your texts, emails, photos, and repair reference numbers are gold. Keep them.
3. It failed to fix the problem in a reasonable time. What is "reasonable" depends on the problem — the council's published repair timescales are a good guide.
4. You were affected — for example, your health suffered, your belongings were damaged, or part of your home became unusable.

Leaseholders of council-owned buildings have rights too, though the route is a little different.

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 the council 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.

Every case is different, and no honest adviser can value a claim before seeing the evidence. What the evidence shows — how serious the disrepair was, how long it went on after the council knew, and how it affected your household — is what determines whether a claim looks strong.

Step 1 — tell us what's happened. You answer some straightforward questions: what the problem is, when you reported it, what the council 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. If your case needs a solicitor, 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 the council formally, and usually arranging an independent inspection of your home. Most disrepair cases settle without anyone going to court.

A note on time limits. Legal time limits apply to disrepair claims. A claim for the repairs and the disruption is usually founded on your tenancy agreement, so the limit is normally six years from when the landlord should have acted; but where a claim includes compensation for injury to health — for example a breathing condition made worse by damp and mould — that part is usually subject to a shorter limit of three years.^[11] Even long-running problems can often still be claimed for, so it makes sense to check where you stand rather than assume. Disrepair claims usually take months rather than weeks to resolve, which is one more reason to complain first and keep the pressure on for repairs while any claim runs.