Useful links for tenants
Independent advice services, regulators and the legislation behind housing disrepair claims.
Complaints and regulators
- Housing Ombudsman Service – Handles complaints about social landlords in England once the landlord's own complaints process is finished.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority – Check that a firm of solicitors is regulated and find its SRA number.
- Legal Ombudsman – Independent complaints service for problems with a legal provider.
- Find your local council – Environmental health teams can inspect private rented homes and serve improvement notices.
Free advice for tenants
- Shelter England – Independent advice on repairs, your rights and what to do when your landlord will not act.
- Citizens Advice: repairs in rented housing – Plain-English guidance on getting repairs done in council, housing association and private homes.
- GOV.UK: private renting repairs – The government summary of what private landlords must repair.
- Shelter Cymru – Housing advice for tenants in Wales.
Related websites
- Housing Disrepair London – Our sister website for tenants in Greater London.
The law
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11 – The core repairing obligation for landlords of homes let for under seven years.
- Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 – Requires rented homes to be fit to live in at the start of and throughout the tenancy.
- Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims – The steps a tenant and landlord must follow before a disrepair claim goes to court in England and Wales.
- Awaab's Law guidance – Fixed timescales for social landlords to investigate and fix damp, mould and other hazards.