COMMENT: Did you know that tenants can claim compensation over disrepair?

Tenants can claim compensation from their landlord for repairs that are not done in a reasonable time; repairs that are of bad quality and do not fix things, or when the accommodation is so bad it’s unfit for habitation.

Housing charity Shelter advises:  

“Council, housing associations and private tenants can all ask for compensation. Wait until your tenancy ends if you're a private tenant at risk of a section 21 notice. You could still ask for a rent reduction if you have a decent relationship with your landlord or letting agent.”

NationalDisrepairClaims.org is another organisation advising tenants and processing claims on their behalf on a no-win-no-fee basis.

Claiming to be “The UK's Housing Disrepair Claim Specialists” they are asking tenants to check to see if they may qualify to make a claim.

The service, it appears from their marketing materials, aims primarily at council and housing association tenants. 

Their Council & Housing Association Tenant Compensation Programme says,

“We ensure landlords adhere to their responsibilities of household repairs, and we further help victims of housing disrepair claim the compensation they deserve.” 

As a tenant, “You are protected by rights written into law when renting from the council or through a housing association. With the help of our experienced solicitors, claiming compensation is easy,” says their website.

They claim that £55.1m has been paid out to tenants within the last 5 years. 

Repair claims against landlords can be processed if rented homes are currently in disrepair and when landlords have not responded to requests for repairs to be carried out. These might include such items as damp, mould / active leaks / defective roofing and other repair issues such as defective heating or electrics, crumbling plaster, internal or external brickwork, drains, gutters and external pipes and defective windows or doors.

NationalDisrepairClaims.org claims that figures gathered by Inside Housing show that tenants claiming for repairs is a nationwide trend. 

“Across 70 English councils that own their own stock, there have been nearly 17,000 disrepair claims in the past five years, with more than £55.1m paid out. However, the figures will be much higher because about 100 councils did not provide data,” says the organisation.

Responsibilities for repairs

Generally speaking, under the statutory rules, regardless of what the tenancy agreement says or does not say, Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

Specifies that as a landlord, you're responsible for the following repairs throughout the tenancy:

• Property structure and exterior, such as roof, gutters, windows, doors and painting
• Gates, walls, fencing, paths and walkways and any outbuildings provided in the tenancy
• Plumbing and sanitary fixtures, such as toilets, sinks, and showers
• Gas appliances, with annual maintenance and safety inspections by a Gas Safe engineer
• The heating and hot water system, including the boiler and radiators
• Ventilation systems aimed at preventing condensation and mould
• Provision of functioning smoke detectors, fire alarms, and carbon monoxide detectors
• Electrical installations subject to five yearly safety checks
• Certain forms of pest control
• Common areas in multi-occupied properties.

In addition landlords must comply with HHSRS safety standards. In the case of HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) the safety standards are even more exacting. See The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation

Tenants also have some responsibilities where repairs or more exactly, disrepairs are concerned. The law says that tenants must: 

• report disrepair to their landlord promptly 
• take proper care of the property
• see to those items that any normal householder would, such as blocked sinks, toilets, change light bulbs etc. 
• get your permission before making changes  
• take responsibility for any damage they (or their guests) cause
• leave the property at the end of the tenancy with all items on the inventory present.

Fears of reporting repairs

Under the Deregulation Act of 2015 a measure was introduced that was intended to prevent landlords from evicting tenants using Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (shortly to be abolished), also known as a "no fault eviction", instead of addressing the repair issues – commonly known as revenge or retaliatory evictions. A Section 21 notice of course currently gives landlords the right to repossess their property without giving a reason and without recourse to a court hearing, once a tenancy agreement has expired.

The 2015 legislation provides tenants with a defence against a revenge Section 21 eviction such that a landlord cannot issue a valid Section 21 notice for 6 months after a council issues an improvement notice or an emergency works / remedial action notice.

These notices are issued following tenant complaints not properly dealt with by the landlords and following a council officer’s official visit.

In addition to this restriction, as a landlord you must respond and deal with the tenant’s complaint within 14 days and complete repairs within a reasonable time.

What does all this tell us?

It would seem from data presented in the latest English Housing Survey (2022-23) that Council tenants and those in Housing Association tenancies suffer more from repair issues than do tenants in private housing.

In survey after survey over many years the levels of satisfaction between tenant’s housed by those organisations and those in private housing show a big difference.

It would appear to me that this story backs-up – if the above figures are to be believed – the assertion that private tenants are in a far better position regarding repairs that are their council and housing association counterparts. 

We read about the scale of claims for car repairs from councils due to road pothole disrepair and we despair at the pure waste of public money. It seems these organisation’s tenanted housing disrepair issues are not far behind.