Pobl Group Repairs
Disrepair Claims and Compensation
Reported the damp months ago and nothing has changed? Pobl is one of the largest housing associations in Wales, holding general needs homes alongside a substantial amount of care and supported accommodation. We force the works through and claim compensation for the time you have lived with it.
We act for social housing contract holders throughout Wales. Our guide to disrepair claims under Welsh housing law covers the route in full.
Pobl Repairs Not Being Done
Pobl was formed by merger and has grown further since, bringing together housing stock from several predecessor organisations across south and west Wales. Homes that were built, managed and maintained by different landlords now sit on one asset register under one repairs operation.
That is the practical reason repairs stall. A centralised service handles very different buildings as a single category of job, and the local knowledge about why one particular block always has damp on the same wall was lost when the original landlord was absorbed. The job gets raised, attended, closed on the system, and the defect survives into the next winter under a new reference number.
One repairs operation, stock inherited from several landlords
Upfront cost to start a claim
Success fee, agreed in writing first
Supported Housing Under Welsh Law
Pobl is a major provider of care and support as well as housing, and Welsh law treats supported accommodation as its own category.
The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 created a distinct arrangement for supported accommodation, the supported standard contract. It gives the landlord certain additional powers, including temporary exclusion in defined circumstances and the ability to move a resident within a scheme. What it does not do is reduce the repairing duty or the fitness standard. Those apply in full.
This matters because residents in supported housing are the least likely group to complain. Where the same organisation provides your home and your care, raising a disrepair issue can feel like putting the support at risk. It is not. Housing management and care provision are separate functions under separate agreements, and enforcing one has no bearing on the other.
It also works the other way in a claim. Damages are assessed on the actual effect the disrepair had on the people living there, so where a resident has a disability or a long term condition, the value rises rather than the claim weakening. Where cold or damp has worsened a condition there is a personal injury element to recover alongside it.
Damp and mould in supported accommodation, where the health impact on residents is considerably greater
Pobl Repairs and Complaints, the Facts
What the landlord has published about its own service, and what it means when your repair has stalled.
How to report a repair
[INSERT: reporting routes and Pobl's published emergency, urgent and routine target timescales]
The complaints procedure
[INSERT: stage one and stage two deadlines, then the route to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales]
Stock and areas covered
[INSERT: confirmed number of homes, the local authority areas covered, and the general needs against care and supported split]
Damp and mould position
[INSERT: published damp and mould policy and any Ombudsman findings with case reference]. The duties behind them are summarised in our note on the protections every social tenant holds.
Your Rights as a Welsh Contract Holder
Housing law in Wales separated from England when the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 came into force in December 2022. You hold an occupation contract rather than a tenancy, and your landlord owes you two distinct duties. One is to keep the structure, exterior and service installations in repair. The other, under Section 91, is to keep the dwelling fit for human habitation for the whole of the contract. Our guide to the repairing obligations a landlord cannot contract out of explains how the two work together.
The fitness duty is where most Welsh claims are won. The Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 require the landlord to assess the dwelling against 29 recognised hazards, which include damp and mould growth, excess cold, electrical hazards and structural collapse. They also impose three specific requirements that cannot be argued around:
- Working smoke alarms on every storey, mains wired and interlinked
- A carbon monoxide alarm in every room containing a gas, oil or solid fuel appliance
- An electrical condition inspection at least every five years, with a copy of the report provided to you
If any one of those is missing, the dwelling is unfit regardless of its general condition, which is often the fastest route to establishing a breach because it does not depend on a surveyor arguing about the cause of damp. Where the dwelling is unfit, rent is not payable for that period, a remedy Welsh contract holders have and English tenants do not.
One point worth knowing. Awaab's Law, with its fixed deadlines for damp and mould, was introduced under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and applies in England, not Wales. Welsh contract holders rely on the fitness duty instead, which in practice is no weaker, because an unfit dwelling is in breach from the outset rather than after a missed deadline.
Dispersed Stock and the Repair That Never Gets Scheduled
Pobl's homes are spread widely across south and west Wales rather than concentrated in a few estates, and that geography has a direct effect on how quickly repairs happen. Contractors batch work by area to make the travel economic, so a single property in a smaller community waits for enough other jobs nearby to justify the visit.
Tenants are rarely told this. They are told the job is scheduled, then rescheduled, then scheduled again. The underlying reason is operational rather than technical, and it is not a defence in law. The repairing duty does not bend to the convenience of a contractor's route planning, and a job repeatedly deferred for scheduling reasons is simply a job the landlord has failed to do.
This pattern is also what makes the appointment record so valuable in these claims. Every rescheduled visit is a dated admission that the landlord knew, and our guide to telling poor service apart from a legal breach explains where that line sits.
Worth Knowing
A large share of repairs work at providers this size is carried out by contractors rather than direct employees. That does not divide responsibility. The duty rests with your landlord, and a contractor who fails to attend is your landlord's failure in law.
If you are unsure who oversees your landlord beyond its own complaints team, our overview of the bodies that regulate social landlords sets out what each can do.
Case Examples From Welsh Association Stock
Illustrative examples of the case types we handle for Welsh contract holders. Details are composite and do not describe a single identified client. Outcomes appear in our record of settled claims.
A contract holder requests the electrical condition report and none exists within the required window. Under the Welsh fitness regulations the dwelling is unfit on that ground alone, which establishes the breach before any argument about the general condition of the property begins.
A resident with reduced mobility and a long term condition is left with unreliable heating across a winter while a replacement is scheduled into the next financial year. The vulnerability substantially raises the general damages and supports a separate injury element on the medical evidence.
A roof defect on a rural property is booked and rebooked while the contractor waits for other work in the area. The appointment record alone evidences eleven months of notice, and the internal correspondence obtained on disclosure shows the delay was operational rather than technical.
A damp problem was first reported years before the stock came across in a merger. Liability transferred with the homes, so the earlier reports still count as notice subject to the limitation period, and disclosure of the historic record often reaches back further than the contract holder expects.
Why Pobl Contract Holders Instruct Us
The costs position is explained on our page about claims you never pay for out of pocket.
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.
Welsh Law, Not English Law
Occupation contracts, the fitness regulations and the Welsh Ombudsman route all work differently. Firms applying English procedure to Welsh cases lose ground early.
Disrepair We Handle for Pobl Contract Holders
Damp and Black Mould
Recorded as condensation in most cases. On older inherited stock the cause is usually structural and returns after every surface treatment.
Excess Cold
Named explicitly as a hazard in the Welsh fitness regulations. A home that cannot be heated adequately is unfit whatever the repair log says.
Roofs and Penetrating Leaks
Slipped tiles, failed flashing and blocked gutters. Welsh weather exposes these quickly and patch repairs rarely last a second winter.
Electrics and Missing Alarms
Exposed wiring, tripping consumer units, or no condition report and no interlinked alarms, each rendering the dwelling unfit on its own.
Lifts and Communal Access
In supported and extra care schemes a failed lift is not an inconvenience, it confines residents to one floor of the building.
Rodents and Infestations
Entry through structural gaps and shared voids. Treating the infestation without sealing the defect guarantees it comes back.
Mould makes up the largest share of what we handle, and the evidence requirements are set out in detail on our page covering claims for damp and mould in rented homes.
How a Pobl Disrepair Claim Works
Four stages, nothing to pay at any point unless the claim succeeds. For a rough figure beforehand, try our guide to working out what a claim is worth.
Free Assessment
We review your repair history and the condition of the property, then tell you honestly whether the claim is worth running.
Evidence and Survey
We compile your reports, appointment records and photographs, and instruct an independent surveyor to establish the cause.
Letter of Claim
A formal letter of claim goes to the landlord's legal team under the pre action protocol, with a schedule of works and a deadline for full 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 Pobl Contract Holder
Several social landlords operate across south and west Wales, and in some areas the council never transferred its stock at all. If yours is a different provider, start from the page that covers your area or your landlord.
We act for council and housing association contract holders in Wales and tenants in England. 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.
- Every appointment booked and rebooked, which on dispersed stock is frequently the single strongest part of the file.
- Ask in writing for the electrical condition report, because its absence makes the dwelling unfit on its own under Welsh regulations.
- Health records for anyone vulnerable in the household, since damages are measured against the effect on them.
What Most People Get Wrong
Contract holders 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 landlord knew, and every job reference does that work.
Mould also takes hold behind furniture and inside wall voids before anything is visible, so an inspection finding nothing is not proof that nothing is there. Our guide to the signs of mould in a flat covers what to look for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I claim against Pobl for damp and mould
Yes. Where the landlord has failed to keep the dwelling in repair or fit for human habitation, you can bring a claim to compel the works and recover damages. You do not need the landlord's agreement, and bringing a claim does not require you to have exhausted the complaints procedure first, although going through it creates useful evidence.
Does Awaab's Law apply to me in Wales
No. Awaab's Law came in under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and applies in England. In Wales the equivalent protection is the fitness for human habitation duty under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, where a dwelling affected by serious damp and mould is unfit from the outset rather than after a deadline passes.
What is a supported standard contract
It is the arrangement Welsh law applies to supported accommodation. It gives the landlord additional powers in defined circumstances, including temporary exclusion and moving a resident within a scheme. It does not reduce the repairing duty or the fitness standard, both of which apply in full.
Will claiming affect the care or support I receive
No. Housing management and care provision are separate functions under separate agreements even where the same organisation delivers both. Enforcing a repairing duty has no bearing on a support package, and a landlord acting otherwise would face a serious regulatory problem.
Who do I complain to if the landlord does not resolve it
In Wales complaints about a registered social landlord go to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, not the Housing Ombudsman that covers England. You will normally need to have been through the landlord's own complaints procedure first. Our comparison of complaining and claiming explains which route achieves what.
Can I stop paying rent until the repairs are done
No, and we would advise strongly against it. Withholding rent puts you in arrears and hands the landlord a ground for possession. Where the dwelling is formally unfit under the Welsh regulations the rent position is different, but that is a determination to be established properly rather than assumed.
How long do I have to bring a claim
Generally six years from when the disrepair began, and three years for any personal injury element. Where a defect has run for a decade the earliest part may fall outside the limitation window even though the problem continues, which is one reason not to wait.
Can I claim if I have already moved out
A claim covering the period you lived with the disrepair survives the end of an occupation contract, subject to the same limitation periods. Former contract holders frequently assume the right disappears when they hand the keys back, and it does not.
The Pobl Complaints Procedure and What Comes After It
Challenging a landlord that also provides care or support to someone in your household feels more complicated than challenging a council, and that hesitation stops a great many valid claims before they start. It should not. The repairing duty is statutory and entirely separate from any support arrangement. The team who would handle your case are introduced on our page about the practice.
Report in Writing and Name the Room
Phone calls are the weakest evidence in a disrepair claim. A call generates a reference number but the system note rarely reflects what you described, and months later it reads as a few words. Put it in writing, name the specific room and wall, and state that the problem is recurring rather than new. What a first report should contain is set out in our walkthrough of how a claim is built.
Keep the Appointment Record
This matters more here than almost anywhere, because of how dispersed the stock is. Note every appointment offered, every one rescheduled, every visit where the operative arrived without the right parts, and every day someone waited in. That record is dated, specific and extremely hard for a landlord to dispute, and it demonstrates sustained notice better than photographs do.
Use the Complaints Procedure, With a Limit
Raising a formal complaint is worth doing. It forces dated responses at defined stages, puts someone above the repairs desk in front of the file, and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales will usually expect it to have been completed. Where tenants lose ground is staying inside it indefinitely, treating each holding reply as progress. Give it the published deadlines plus a short margin, then escalate. Our guide to wording a complaint so it cannot be closed off covers how to put it.
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 landlord's legal team with a schedule of works, a deadline for disclosure of the full repair history including anything inherited from a predecessor landlord, and a request for survey access. Providers that absorbed a year of unanswered emails usually respond inside the protocol deadline, because the costs consequences are quantifiable in a way a 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 inside the structure. Photograph thoroughly before touching anything and leave affected areas alone until the survey has been done. Internal treatments applied over an unresolved external 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. Where the effect has been on mental health rather than physical health that is recoverable too, as our guide to distress caused by living in a home in disrepair explains.
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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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 everyone in the household. We give you a realistic range once we have seen the evidence, not before.
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