No Win No Fee
Housing Disrepair Claims
Nothing to pay at the start, and nothing to pay if the claim does not succeed. If your council or housing association has left you with damp, mould, a leak or no heating, cost is the one thing that should not be stopping you.
We act for social housing tenants in England and Wales. If you want to see how a claim runs before reading about the funding, start with our overview of the disrepair claims process.
Reviewed by [INSERT NAMED SOLICITOR]
Solicitor, SRA [INSERT REAL NUMBER] Housing disrepair[INSERT: years of practice and area of specialism, accurate and verifiable]
A no win no fee housing disrepair claim runs under a conditional fee agreement. You pay nothing to start it, nothing while it runs, and nothing at all if it does not succeed. If it does succeed, a success fee is deducted from your compensation at a percentage that is capped by law and agreed with you in writing before anything is signed. The landlord also pays a substantial share of the legal costs in most successful claims, which reduces what comes out of your award.
No Win No Fee Without the Small Print
The phrase is used loosely across the claims industry, so it is worth being precise. Under a conditional fee agreement our fee is contingent on success. If the claim fails you owe us nothing, and the disbursements we have funded along the way, principally the independent survey, are not passed back to you.
If the claim succeeds, two things happen. The landlord pays a substantial part of the legal costs, which is how the model works at all, and a capped success fee comes out of your compensation. That percentage is set out in writing before you sign and does not change afterwards. You will know the ceiling at the outset rather than discovering it at settlement.
What You Pay, Stage by Stage
- Case review
Nothing - Independent survey
Nothing, we fund it - While the claim runs
Nothing - If the claim fails
Nothing - If the claim succeeds
A capped success fee from your compensation, agreed in writing beforehand
Who We Act For
Telling you now saves you a fortnight of waiting for an answer.
We can help
- • Council tenants, including ALMO managed stock
- • Housing association tenants of any registered provider
- • Contract holders in Wales under the Renting Homes Act
- • Former tenants, within the limitation period
- • Households where someone has been made ill by the conditions
We cannot help
- • Private rented sector tenants
- • Leaseholders and shared ownership buyers
- • Owner occupiers and mortgage holders
- • Tenants in Scotland or Northern Ireland, where the law differs substantially
- • Claims that fall entirely outside the limitation period
How Compensation Is Actually Calculated
Be wary of any firm quoting you a figure before it has seen your evidence. Damages are built from three separate heads, and the arithmetic is not a guess.
| Head of claim | How it is worked out |
|---|---|
| General damages | A proportion of the rent paid across the period of disrepair, set by how severe the problem was and how much of the home you lost the use of. In long running cases this is usually the largest element. |
| Special damages | The money you actually lost. Carpets, furniture, clothing and electricals ruined by damp or water, plus extra electricity spent on dehumidifiers or temporary heaters. |
| Personal injury | A separate element where the conditions caused or worsened a health problem, supported by medical evidence rather than assertion. |
The worked detail behind each head is set out in our guide to how a disrepair award is arrived at, and our calculator gives an indicative starting range before you call.
The Five Stages of a No Win No Fee Claim
Free Assessment
We review your repair history and the condition of the property and tell you honestly whether the claim is worth running.
Evidence Gathering
We compile your written reports, job reference numbers, appointment records and photographs into a dated timeline.
Independent Survey
We instruct and fund a surveyor to inspect the property and establish the cause, rather than relying on the landlord's contractor.
Letter of Claim
A formal letter goes to the landlord's legal team under the pre action protocol, with a schedule of works and a disclosure deadline.
Repairs and Settlement
We press for the works to be completed under a dated schedule and negotiate the damages owed.
Before any of that, the complaints procedure is worth exhausting because it builds the record. Our guide to putting a complaint in writing properly covers how.
What These Claims Look Like in Practice
Illustrative examples of the case types we handle. Details are composite and do not describe a single identified client. Outcomes we have secured are described in our record of settled claims.
Blamed on the household for a year
A tenant reports severe mould in the children's bedrooms repeatedly and is told each time that it is condensation from cooking and drying washing. An independent surveyor instructed on the claim identifies failed cavity insulation. The landlord is compelled to carry out the insulation works, and damages run from the first report rather than the date of the survey.
Two months without heating in winter
A boiler fails completely in winter and contractor appointments are repeatedly deferred. Space and water heating are named expressly in Section 11, so this is a straightforward breach rather than a service issue. A letter of claim produces a replacement boiler, and the damages cover the period without heat and the electricity absorbed on temporary heaters.
Rain entering through failed render
Water penetrates cracked external rendering and is treated internally with replastering on two occasions while the outside is never touched. Making good the symptom is not performance of the repairing duty, and the repair log itself proves the landlord had notice throughout.
Why Tenants Instruct Us
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.
Independent Survey Evidence
We do not rely on the landlord's own contractor. An independent surveyor establishes the cause, which is what turns a disputed complaint into a provable claim.
Social Housing Only
Every case is built around social landlord duties, the statutory deadlines and the Ombudsman framework. We do not split our attention across the private sector.
Disrepair We Take On Under a No Win No Fee Agreement
What a Conditional Fee Agreement Means for You
Most tenants who never claim give the same reason, and it is not that they think the landlord is right. It is cost. Legal action feels expensive and risky, so the call never gets made and another winter goes by. A conditional fee agreement exists specifically to remove that barrier, and understanding how it works usually settles the question in a couple of minutes. The people who would act for you are introduced on our page about the practice.
What You Are Signing
A conditional fee agreement is a contract between you and the firm saying our fee depends on winning. If the claim does not succeed, there is no fee and the disbursements we have funded are not reclaimed from you. If it does succeed, the landlord pays a substantial portion of the costs and a capped success fee is deducted from your damages at a percentage fixed in the agreement. Read that percentage before you sign, and ask what it applies to, which should be the general damages rather than the whole award.
What the Survey Does
The independent survey is the single most important item we fund, and it is the reason these claims succeed where complaints fail. The landlord's own contractor has an interest in recording condensation. An independent surveyor has none, and their report establishes the cause on evidence. That matters most where the dispute is about whether damp is condensation or penetrating through the structure, which is the argument in the majority of cases we see.
Complaint First, or Claim
The two are not alternatives so much as different tools. A complaint builds a dated record and is normally required before the Ombudsman will look at anything. A claim enforces the repair with a schedule of works and recovers damages assessed against the rent. You do not have to finish a complaint before taking advice, and in practice the complaint responses frequently become evidence in the claim. Our comparison of what the Ombudsman can do against what a claim achieves sets out which fits which situation.
Do Not Withhold Rent
This comes up constantly and the answer does not change. Withholding rent does not force a repair, it puts you in arrears and hands the landlord a ground for possession. There is a narrow formal set off procedure with strict requirements, and it should never be attempted without advice. Arrears also do not reduce the landlord's repairing duty, so claiming while in arrears is perfectly possible, although part of any award may be set against what you owe.
Act Before the Limitation Period Bites
A disrepair claim generally reaches back six years, and a personal injury element three years. On a problem that has run for a decade, the earliest and often worst period may already be outside the window even though the defect continues. That is the practical reason not to wait for one more complaint cycle, and it is the one cost of delay that no conditional fee agreement can remove. If the disrepair has affected someone's health, the distress and wellbeing element of a claim is also assessed on the same period.
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, including when it is not.
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Claim Pages
No Win No Fee, Common Questions
What is the catch with no win no fee
The honest answer is that a success fee comes out of your compensation if you win, so you do not receive the headline figure in full. That percentage is capped and set out in writing before you sign. The thing to check with any firm is what the percentage applies to and whether disbursements would ever be reclaimed from you. With us they would not.
Do I have to pay anything if I lose
No. If the claim does not succeed you pay nothing, and the disbursements we funded along the way, including the independent survey, are not passed back to you. That is the whole point of the arrangement, and if a firm cannot say this plainly it is worth asking why.
How much do solicitors take from a disrepair payout
A capped percentage of the damages, agreed in writing before the agreement is signed. The cap is set by law rather than by the firm. In most successful disrepair claims the landlord also pays a substantial share of the legal costs separately, which is what makes the model viable at all.
How long does a housing disrepair claim take
Most settle within four to nine months depending on how the landlord responds. The pre action protocol gives the landlord a defined window to reply to the letter of claim. Urgent repairs can often be agreed far sooner than the damages, because landlords will frequently do the works while the compensation is still being negotiated.
Will I have to go to court
Very probably not. The large majority of these claims settle through negotiation after the letter of claim and the survey report. Court is the backstop that gives the process its weight rather than the expected destination, and landlords settle precisely to avoid the costs consequences of going there.
Can I claim if I am in rent arrears
Yes. Arrears do not reduce your landlord's repairing duty and they do not bar a claim. Part of any compensation may be set against what you owe, so the net figure can be lower, and we explain that at the assessment rather than at settlement.
Can my landlord evict me for claiming
Bringing a disrepair claim is not a ground for possession. A secure council tenant or an assured housing association tenant can only be removed through the courts on a statutory ground, and complaining about the condition of the home is not one of them. Keeping rent up to date removes the most commonly used ground entirely.
Do I need to complain first before I can claim
No. What the claim requires is notice, meaning that you told the landlord and gave it a reasonable opportunity to put things right. A formal complaint is useful because it creates a dated record, but you do not have to exhaust the complaints procedure before taking legal advice.
What evidence do I need to start
Less than most people assume. Job reference numbers, dated photographs and any written exchanges are the useful starting point. If your own records are thin, the landlord's repair history can be obtained on disclosure, and it frequently reaches back further than tenants expect.
Can I claim after I have moved out
A claim for the period you lived with the disrepair survives the end of the tenancy, subject to the limitation period of six years for the disrepair and three for any personal injury element. Former tenants often assume the right ends when the keys go back, and it does not.
Ready to Get the Repairs Done
A free case review, no obligation, and an honest answer about whether the claim is worth running.
What Could Your Claim Be Worth
Damages depend on how long the disrepair has run, the rent paid during it, the belongings damaged and the effect on your household. We give you a realistic range once we have seen the evidence, not before.
Use the compensation calculator