Leicester City Council Repairs
Reporting, Timescales and Disrepair Claims
Leicester kept its council housing rather than transferring it, so the council is both your landlord and the organisation handling your repair. If a report has gone nowhere for months, this page covers how to escalate it and what a claim can achieve.
We act for council and housing association tenants across the city. Our overview of what a council tenant can claim for sets out the legal route in full.
How to Report a Council Repair in Leicester
If you have not yet reported the problem, start here. We are a law firm rather than the council, so we cannot raise the job for you, but how you report it determines how strong a claim would be later.
Report it online if you can
The council's own website and tenant portal are the fastest route and, more importantly, they create a written record with a reference number. Phoning generates a job but rarely records what you actually described.
Emergencies are different
Total loss of heating or hot water in winter, a significant uncontainable leak, exposed live wiring, water reaching electrical fittings, or a door or window that no longer secures the home all fall into the emergency category and have their own out of hours number.
Keep the reference number
Every job reference is a dated record that the council knew. If a claim follows months or years later, these are what prove notice, and they matter more than photographs of the damage itself.
Say precisely where the problem is, name the room and the wall, and state explicitly if it is recurring rather than new. What a first report should contain is set out in our walkthrough of how a claim is built.
Leicester City Council Repairs Not Being Done
Leicester is one of the English authorities that never transferred its housing stock. The homes across Beaumont Leys, New Parks, Braunstone, Saffron Lane and Eyres Monsell are still owned and maintained by the council itself, which means there is no separate landlord to escalate to when the repairs service stops responding.
That closed loop is why tenants describe going round in circles. The team that failed to fix the problem and the team reviewing your complaint about it report to the same organisation, and a job closed on the system counts as a repair completed whether or not the defect is still there. A formal legal claim is what moves the matter outside that loop and onto a timetable the council cannot set itself.
Council owned stock, retained rather than transferred
Upfront cost to start a claim
Success fee, agreed in writing first
Leicester City Council Repairs and Complaints, the Facts
What the council has published about its own service, and what it means when your repair has stalled.
Reporting routes and timescales
[INSERT: the online, phone and out of hours reporting routes, plus the council's published emergency, urgent and routine target timescales]
The complaints procedure
[INSERT: stage one and stage two deadlines under the corporate complaints policy, then the Housing Ombudsman route]
Stock and estates
[INSERT: confirmed number of council homes and the main estates across the city]
Damp and mould position
[INSERT: published damp and mould policy and any Housing Ombudsman determination with case reference]. The duties behind it are summarised in our note on the rights a social tenant holds.
The Duties Leicester City Council Owes You
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires the council to keep the structure and exterior in repair and the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and hot water in working order. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 added Section 9A, requiring the home to be fit to live in throughout the tenancy rather than only when you moved in. Our comparison of the two statutory routes and when each applies explains which fits which defect.
Awaab's Law, under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, adds a third route that binds council landlords. It replaces the old reasonable time standard with fixed deadlines for investigating a hazard, confirming findings in writing and beginning work. A missed deadline is measured in dates rather than opinion, which makes it one of the quickest breaches to establish, and the deadlines themselves are set out in our guide to the statutory timescales at each stage.
One further right applies to you specifically as a secure council tenant, and most people have never heard of it. The statutory Right to Repair scheme covers smaller urgent jobs below a set value, with prescribed timescales and an entitlement to have a second contractor appointed if the first misses them. It will not resolve a large structural defect, but for the jobs it does cover it is considerably faster than a claim. Our explanation of the Right to Repair scheme lists what qualifies.
Where any of these duties is breached, you can recover damages for the distress, inconvenience, ruined belongings and health effects you have suffered, and compel the outstanding works at the same time.
Dilapidation or Disrepair
People searching for dilapidation in Leicester are usually describing a home that has been allowed to fall apart, and that is a reasonable way to put it. The word itself is a commercial property term, used for the schedule of works a business tenant owes at the end of a lease, so it rarely helps when you are a council tenant trying to get a roof fixed.
The right term for what you are dealing with is housing disrepair, and the legal route is a disrepair claim. It covers rotten window frames, crumbling plaster, failed roofs, leaking pipes, faulty electrics and broken heating, provided the landlord was told about the problem and did not put it right within a reasonable time.
The distinction matters practically rather than academically. A claim framed as dilapidation against a residential landlord goes nowhere. Framed as disrepair under Section 11, with notice evidenced by your repair references, it has somewhere to go. Our overview of structural defect claims covers the more serious end of it.
Worth Knowing
Damp proofing is another term people search for locally, usually after being told the property needs it. If a damp proof course has failed, installing a new one is the landlord's responsibility rather than yours, and it is not something a tenant should be arranging or paying for.
Where rising damp is involved, our guide to how damp is properly fixed explains what adequate remediation actually involves.
Case Examples From Leicester Social Housing
Illustrative examples of the case types we handle in the city. Details are composite and do not describe a single identified client. Outcomes appear in our record of settled claims.
A family reports mould in a children's bedroom repeatedly and is told each time to open the windows. A survey instructed on the claim finds a failed damp proof course and cold bridging. The advice given was not wrong in isolation, it was simply irrelevant to the actual defect, and the repeat reports establish notice across the whole period.
An urgent job that falls inside the statutory scheme sits unattended well past its prescribed timescale and no second contractor is appointed. That missed deadline is documented and independently verifiable, which makes it a straightforward starting point for a wider claim about the condition of the property.
Rain brings water into ceiling light fittings, which is an immediate electrical risk rather than a routine repair. Recorded as routine, it sits in the queue for months. Challenging the classification in writing is often what moves it, and the claim covers both the danger and the damaged carpets.
A stage two complaint is upheld, a modest payment offered, and the complaint closed as resolved while the defect remains. An upheld complaint is strong evidence rather than a remedy, and accepting a goodwill payment does not prevent a claim that follows.
Why Leicester Tenants Instruct Us
The costs position is explained on our page about how a claim is funded without payment from you.
We Assess Before We Accept
If the evidence will not carry a claim we say so at the assessment rather than after months of correspondence. An honest no is worth more than a hopeful maybe.
No Win No Fee
Nothing to pay upfront and nothing to pay if the claim does not succeed. The success fee is capped and agreed in writing before anything is signed.
We Check the Faster Routes First
Some jobs are quicker through Right to Repair or a correctly classified emergency than through litigation. Where that is true we will tell you, even though it means no claim for us.
Disrepair We Handle Across Leicester
Damp and Black Mould
Recorded as condensation almost by default. In Victorian terraces and solid wall stock the cause is usually the building rather than the household.
Rising Damp
Failed or absent damp proof courses in older stock, leaving tide marks and salting low on the wall. Installing a new course is the landlord's job.
Roofs and Rainwater Goods
Slipped tiles, failed flashing and blocked gutters, which produce internal damage well away from where the water actually enters.
Heating and Hot Water
Named expressly in Section 11. An ageing boiler patched repeatedly rather than replaced is a repairing failure, not a budgeting decision.
Unsafe Electrics
Exposed wiring, repeatedly tripping consumer units and water reaching fittings are emergency category hazards rather than queued jobs.
Rodents and Infestations
Entry through structural gaps and shared voids. Treating the infestation without sealing the defect guarantees it comes back.
Where prolonged damp has affected someone's breathing, the claim can also carry a personal injury element alongside the repair and the general damages.
Can You Take Action Against Your Own Council
Yes, and tenants ask this more often where the council is both landlord and local authority. It makes no difference in law. A council acting as a landlord carries the same statutory duties as any other landlord, it budgets for disrepair claims as a known cost, and nothing about your other dealings with the authority is affected.
What people are often really asking is whether the years of living in it count for anything, separately from the ruined carpet. They do. General damages cover the distress, the anxiety and the loss of use of rooms you could not heat or occupy, and in a long running case that element is usually larger than everything else combined.
It does not require a medical diagnosis, though one supports a separate injury element on top. Our guide on suing the council for emotional distress sets out how that part of a claim is valued.
Worth Knowing
Tenants itemise the damaged belongings and stop there, treating the years of living with it as something you simply absorb. That is the most commonly under claimed part of a disrepair case.
Our overview of distress as a head of claim explains the difference between general damages and a personal injury element.
How a Leicester Disrepair Claim Works
Four stages, nothing to pay at any point unless the claim succeeds. For a rough figure beforehand, try our tool for estimating an award.
Free Assessment
We review your repair history and the condition of the property, and tell you honestly whether a claim is the right route or whether something faster applies.
Evidence and Survey
We compile your reports, reference numbers and photographs, and instruct an independent surveyor to establish the cause.
Letter of Claim
A formal letter of claim goes to the council's legal team under the pre action protocol, with a schedule of works and a deadline for disclosure.
Repairs and Settlement
We press for the works to be completed and negotiate damages for the period you lived with the disrepair.
Not a Leicester City Council Tenant
Housing associations hold stock in and around the city alongside the council, and the picture changes across the East Midlands. If your landlord is someone else, start from the page that covers you.
We act for council, ALMO and housing association tenants in England and Wales. We do not take private rented sector, leaseholder or shared ownership claims.
The Evidence That Decides a Claim
What to Gather Now
- Every job reference number, with the date reported and whether the same defect has been attended before.
- Screenshots from the tenant portal, particularly any job marked complete when nobody attended, which is among the most damaging records a landlord can face.
- Dated photographs across seasons, because damp that recedes in summer and returns each autumn tells a surveyor more than one image does.
- GP records where damp or cold has triggered or worsened a condition in the household.
What Most People Get Wrong
Tenants assume they must prove what is causing the damp. They do not. That is the surveyor's job. What has to be proved is notice, meaning the council knew, and every reference number does that work.
If your own records are thin, the council's repair history is disclosable and on a long tenancy it usually reaches back further than people expect.
Leicester City Council Repairs, Common Questions
How do I report a repair to Leicester City Council
Through the council's own website, tenant portal or repairs line, with a separate out of hours number for emergencies. We are a law firm rather than the council so we cannot raise the job, but report it in writing wherever possible and keep the reference number, because that record is what proves notice if a claim follows later.
What counts as an emergency repair
Anything presenting an immediate risk to health, safety or the security of the home. Total loss of heating or hot water in winter, a significant uncontainable leak, exposed live wiring, water reaching electrical fittings, or a door or window that no longer secures the property. If something in that category has been logged as routine, challenge the classification in writing.
How long does the council have to do a repair
The council publishes its own target timescales for emergency, urgent and routine jobs, and separately it is bound by Awaab's Law deadlines for damp, mould and other serious hazards. Its internal targets are a service standard. The statutory deadlines are a legal obligation, and missing those is a breach you can rely on.
What is the Right to Repair scheme
A statutory scheme for secure council tenants covering smaller urgent jobs below a set value. It sets prescribed timescales and entitles you to have a second contractor appointed if the first misses them. It does not reach large structural work, but for the jobs it covers it is faster than any claim.
Can I claim against Leicester City Council for disrepair
Yes. Leicester retained its housing stock, so the council is your landlord and carries the full repairing duty. Being a local authority gives it no additional protection, and councils budget for disrepair claims as a routine cost of holding housing.
The council says the damp is condensation caused by us
That is the most common response and it is frequently wrong. Condensation forms on cold surfaces across a room and improves with ventilation. Rising damp starts low and leaves tide marks, and penetrating damp concentrates on one external wall and worsens in autumn. An independent survey establishes which it actually is.
Can I be evicted for complaining about repairs
As a secure council tenant the council cannot simply end your tenancy because you complained. It must establish a statutory ground and obtain a court order, and bringing a disrepair claim is not a ground. There is more in our guide on eviction and repair complaints.
Is there a time limit
Generally six years from when the disrepair began, and three years for any personal injury element. On a long tenancy the earliest period may fall outside the window even though the defect continues, which is a reason not to wait for another complaint cycle.
The Complaints Procedure and What Comes After It
Taking action against your own council feels uncomfortable when it is also your landlord. Set that aside. The duties are statutory, the authority budgets for disrepair as a known cost of holding housing stock, and enforcing a repairing obligation is the mechanism Parliament provided rather than an attack on a public service. The people who would act for you are introduced on our page about the practice.
Try the Faster Routes First
Not every problem needs litigation, and we would rather say so. If the job falls inside the Right to Repair scheme, that route is quicker. If it has been misclassified as routine when it is genuinely an emergency, challenging the classification in writing frequently produces an attendance within days. A claim is the right tool for a defect that has persisted despite repeated reports, not for a job raised last week.
Move to a Formal Complaint With a Deadline
Once repairs reports stop producing results, raise a formal complaint rather than repeating them. It forces dated responses at defined stages, puts someone above the repairs desk in front of the file, and the Housing Ombudsman will expect it to have been completed. Give it the published deadlines plus a short margin, and treat a second missed stage as the point to escalate. How to word one so it cannot be closed as a general enquiry is covered in our guide to making a formal complaint properly.
Know Who Else Can Act
Most tenants assume the council is the only body involved, and where it is also the landlord that feels doubly true. It is not. Environmental health can act on serious hazards even in the authority's own stock, which surprises people, and councillors can escalate internally on constituents' behalf. Neither replaces a claim but both add pressure, and our overview of the organisations that can act against a landlord explains what each can actually do.
What Happens When We Take Over
Once instructed we move the matter out of the customer service queue entirely. A letter of claim under the pre action protocol goes to the council's legal team with a schedule of works, a deadline for disclosure of the full repair history and a request for survey access. Authorities that absorbed a year of unanswered emails usually respond inside the protocol deadline, because the costs consequences are real in a way a tenant complaint is not.
Do Not Clean the Evidence Away
One practical point while a claim is live. Washing mould off a wall removes the proof and does nothing to the cause, which sits in the structure. Photograph thoroughly before touching anything and leave affected areas alone until the survey is done. Internal treatments applied over an unresolved defect fail within a season, as our guide to why internal damp treatments rarely hold explains.
What You Actually Recover
A successful claim has two halves and the first is consistently underestimated. The works are enforced, normally under a schedule with dates attached, so the defect is resolved rather than patched again. Damages then cover the period you lived with it, calculated largely as a proportion of the rent paid, plus belongings ruined by damp or water, plus any injury element. How those figures are reached is set out in our explanation of how a disrepair award is worked out.
If your repair has been outstanding for months, or the same job keeps being closed and reopened, get it assessed rather than wait for another winter. Contact our team and we will tell you within 24 hours whether the claim is worth running.
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