Housing association tenants
Make your housing association carry out the repairs — and pay
Reported damp, mould, leaks or broken heating and been fobbed off? Housing association tenants can claim compensation and force the repairs — on a No Win No Fee basis.
Housing association tenants
Housing associations (registered providers of social housing) carry exactly the same repairing obligations as any other social landlord — and are held to standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. If you have reported damp and mould, leaks, faulty heating or other disrepair and it has not been dealt with in a reasonable time, you can claim compensation for the impact on you and your home.
Persistent damp and mould, leaks and broken heating are the most common — and most claimable — housing disrepair problems we see. Not sure what yours could be worth? Our free housing disrepair compensation calculator gives an instant guide, or read more about housing disrepair claims.
Does this sound familiar?
If any of these sound like your home, it is worth getting a free check.
What you can claim for
A housing association disrepair claim covers far more than just the repair itself.
Persistent damp and black mould never treated at the source — the most common claim we see.
Roof, plumbing or window leaks damaging your home, furniture and belongings.
No or unreliable heating and hot water left unrepaired, often through winter.
Dangerous wiring, gas or fittings that should have been made safe straight away.
Cracks, rot, crumbling plaster, broken doors, windows, floors and guttering.
Vermin or pest problems and blocked drains caused by the state of the property.
Asthma, chest infections and other conditions caused or made worse by the disrepair.
Clothes, carpets, furniture, beds and electricals ruined by damp, mould or leaks.
Damp & mould compensation
There is no fixed tariff for housing disrepair. Compensation is usually assessed as a proportion of the rent you paid while the disrepair went unfixed — the worse the problem and the more of your home it affected, the higher the proportion. On top of that you can claim for damaged belongings and any effect on your health.
| How bad is the disrepair? | Typical share of rent awarded |
|---|---|
| Limited — one room, modest impact | Around 10%–25% |
| Moderate — several rooms affected | Around 25%–50% |
| Serious — much of the home unusable or unhealthy | Around 50%–75% |
| Severe — home effectively uninhabitable | Up to 100% |
These bands are a general guide to how courts approach disrepair awards — they are not a promise of any particular sum. Every claim turns on its own evidence, and a solicitor will confirm what your case is realistically worth. Damaged belongings and any personal-injury element are assessed separately and added on top.
Our calculator gives you a guide figure in under a minute, with no obligation.
The law on your side
You do not have to rely on goodwill. Your housing association's repairing duties are set by law, and they cannot be signed away by anything in your tenancy agreement.
The cornerstone of every disrepair claim. Section 11 requires your landlord to keep in repair the structure and exterior of your home — walls, roof, windows, gutters and drains — and to keep in working order the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and hot water. Once you have reported a problem, the landlord must carry out the repair within a reasonable time.
Your home must be fit to live in — not merely structurally intact. This covers serious damp and mould, inadequate ventilation, unsafe electrics and other hazards that make a home unhealthy. If it is unfit, you can take action directly against your landlord.
As a housing association tenant you have additional protection. Social landlords — councils and housing associations — are now required to investigate reported damp and mould and act within strict timescales, rather than leaving reports open indefinitely. A landlord who ignores those deadlines strengthens your claim considerably.
Housing associations must operate a formal complaints procedure, and once it is exhausted you can take the matter to the Housing Ombudsman. That route can produce an apology and a modest award, but it does not deliver the level of compensation a disrepair claim can — and the two can often run in parallel. We will advise you honestly on the best route.
The housing disrepair protocol
Disrepair claims follow the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims — a set procedure the courts expect both sides to follow. We handle every stage.
Tell us what is wrong and how long you have reported it. We will tell you honestly, at no cost, whether you have a claim.
A qualified surveyor inspects your home and records the disrepair and its cause — the evidence your landlord cannot argue with.
Under the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims we set out the disrepair, the repairs required and the compensation owed. Your landlord has a set period to respond.
Most claims settle here: the works are scheduled and compensation is agreed. If your landlord still refuses, we can issue court proceedings to force it.
Most claims never reach a courtroom — the protocol is designed to get repairs done and compensation agreed without one.
Honest answers
These are the four things tenants tell us stop them coming forward. Every one of them deserves a straight answer.
Retaliatory eviction is not something a social landlord can lawfully do because you asked for repairs you are legally entitled to. Secure and assured social tenancies have strong protection, and asking for repairs is exercising your rights — not a breach of them.
This is the most common thing landlords say, and it is very often wrong. Persistent damp and black mould usually trace back to disrepair or inadequate ventilation, insulation or heating that the landlord is responsible for. An independent survey establishes the true cause.
Suitable claims run on a No Win No Fee basis: nothing to pay upfront, and nothing to pay us if the claim does not succeed. The terms are agreed with you in writing before anything starts.
Ongoing disrepair can usually still be claimed. You can generally claim compensation for up to six years of disrepair (three years for a personal-injury element) — and if it is still not fixed, the claim also forces the repairs.
Free · no obligation · 60 seconds
Tell us what is wrong and a specialist will confirm what you are owed and press for the repairs — on No Win No Fee.
Your questions
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