Housing Disrepair Claim Calculator UK 2025 - Tenant Rights, Repairs & Compensation
Your landlord has a legal duty to keep your home in good repair. If they fail — leaving you with damp, mould, structural problems, or broken facilities — you can claim compensation for the period you have lived in substandard conditions. This calculator estimates what you could recover and explains how to make a claim.
Compensation estimates are approximate. General damages (rent reduction) typically range from 10-50% of rent depending on severity. Health damages require medical evidence. Always report disrepair in writing first and allow reasonable time. Legal aid may be available for disrepair claims where your home or health is at risk.
Your Landlord's Repair Obligations
The legal framework for landlord repairs in England and Wales rests on several statutes:
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.11 — applies to residential tenancies granted for less than 7 years. Requires landlords to keep in repair the structure and exterior; water, gas, electricity, and sanitation installations; and space and water heating installations.
- Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 — requires properties to be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout. This covers a wider range of hazards than s.11, including damp, overcrowding, and inadequate natural light.
- Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) — a council tool for identifying housing hazards. You can report a property to your local council who will inspect under HHSRS and may serve an improvement notice on your landlord.
The Importance of Written Notice
A landlord’s duty to repair is triggered when they have knowledge of the defect. Written notice — letter or email — provides a clear record of when you reported the problem. Without it, it is difficult to establish either that the landlord knew about the problem or how long it went unresolved. Always:
- Report in writing (email is fine), keeping a copy
- Take dated photographs of every defect
- Describe symptoms (not just causes) — e.g. “black mould covering the bedroom ceiling”
- Note any health symptoms and their dates
- Log all subsequent communications and landlord visits
No Win No Fee Housing Disrepair Claims
Many specialist housing disrepair solicitors offer conditional fee arrangements (No Win No Fee) for disrepair claims. This means you pay nothing upfront and only pay (a success fee) if you win. Given the relatively straightforward nature of many disrepair claims and the availability of fixed compensation benchmarks, this is a practical option for many tenants. However, be cautious of cold-call solicitors soliciting housing disrepair claims — check the solicitor is regulated by the SRA before engaging.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is known as retaliatory eviction. Under the Deregulation Act 2015, if you have made a written complaint about the property condition and the council has served an improvement notice, any Section 21 notice served within 6 months of your complaint may be invalid. This protection applies to assured shorthold tenancies in England. If you are threatened with eviction after complaining about repairs, seek housing advice immediately.
The Housing Ombudsman Service is a free, independent dispute resolution service for social housing tenants (housing association and council tenants). It can investigate complaints about repairs and other housing management issues. It can award compensation and require landlords to carry out works. Use it after exhausting your landlord’s internal complaints process. Private sector tenants cannot use the Housing Ombudsman.
Claims based on breach of contract (Landlord and Tenant Act) have a 6-year limitation period from when the cause of action arose. Claims for personal injury caused by disrepair have a 3-year limitation period from the date of injury or date of knowledge. Do not delay — evidence becomes harder to gather over time and courts may not award the full period of disrepair if your claim is brought late.