Stockport Homes Repairs
Disrepair Claims and Compensation
Reported the damp months ago and nothing has changed? Stockport Homes manages the council's stock, but Stockport Council remains your legal landlord, and the repairing duty sits with the council whatever the repairs line tells you. We force the works through and claim compensation for the time you have lived with it.
We act for council, ALMO and housing association tenants across the borough. See our wider guide to council housing disrepair claims.
Stockport Homes Manages It, the Council Owns It
Stockport Homes is an arm's length management organisation. The council never transferred the housing stock the way Manchester and Liverpool did, it handed over the day to day management and kept ownership. Tenants in Brinnington, Adswood, Offerton, Reddish and Edgeley deal with Stockport Homes every day, but the legal landlord is still Stockport Council.
This matters for your claim more than it looks. You remain a secure council tenant rather than an assured housing association tenant, which gives you stronger security of tenure and brings the statutory Right to Repair scheme into play for smaller urgent jobs. It also means the repairing covenant under Section 11 binds the council, so a claim does not fall away because the ALMO says the backlog is not its fault.
Council owned stock, managed at arm's length
Upfront cost to start a claim
Success fee, agreed in writing first
Stockport Homes 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 the published emergency, urgent and routine target timescales]
The complaints procedure
[INSERT: stage one and stage two deadlines, then the Housing Ombudsman route]
Stock and estates
[INSERT: confirmed number of homes managed and the main estates across the borough]
Damp and mould position
[INSERT: published damp and mould policy and any Housing Ombudsman determination with case reference]. Your underlying protections are on our tenant rights page.
Your Legal Rights as a Stockport Tenant
Two statutory duties sit behind almost every claim in England. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires the landlord 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 property to be fit to live in throughout the tenancy, and since March 2020 that applies to existing periodic tenancies as well as new ones. The practical difference between Section 11 and Section 9A decides which route your claim runs down.
Social housing tenants in England have a third route that private renters do not. Awaab's Law, introduced under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, replaces the vague reasonable time standard with fixed deadlines. Your landlord must:
- Investigate a reported damp, mould or other serious hazard within the statutory timeframe
- Give you a written summary of the findings and the works it intends to carry out
- Begin emergency repairs quickly where there is an immediate risk to health or safety
A missed deadline is not poor customer service, it is a breach you can rely on, and the phased rollout means more hazard types come into scope over time. Our guide to the Awaab's Law timescales sets out exactly what the clock is on each stage.
Where the landlord fails any of these, you can claim for the distress, inconvenience, ruined belongings and health effects you have suffered, and force the outstanding repairs to be completed at the same time.
When the Repair Is Logged as a Lifestyle Problem
Open the windows. Stop drying washing indoors. Use the heating more. This is the most common response tenants in the borough receive, and once the file says condensation the repair usually stops moving.
In Stockport's stock it is often wrong. The borough holds a lot of Victorian terraced housing with solid walls and no cavity, alongside mid century estates with failing extractor fans and cold bridging at gable ends. Any of those produce the same mould pattern whatever the household does. A surveyor can separate the two in a single visit, and if you have been given this answer it is worth reading what to do when a landlord blames you for the mould before you reply.
Mould forming at a cold external wall junction, a structural pattern rather than a condensation pattern
Case Examples From Stockport Social Housing
Illustrative examples of the case types we handle in the borough. Details are composite and do not describe a single identified client. Verified client feedback is on our reviews page.
A family reports thick mould in a bathroom and hallway and is told each time it is caused by drying clothes indoors. A surveyor instructed on the claim finds a dead extractor fan and structural damp. The breach is established, eradication works are scheduled, and damages run from the first report rather than the survey date.
Heavy rain brings water into ceiling light fittings, which is an immediate electrical risk rather than a routine repair. Logged as routine, it sits in the queue for months. Reclassifying it correctly under the emergency criteria is often what moves it, and the claim covers both the danger and the damaged carpets.
A boiler fails in November and plug in heaters are supplied while parts are awaited. Temporary heating does not discharge the duty to keep the space and water heating in working order. The claim covers the period without heating and the additional electricity the household absorbed.
Rodents enter through broken masonry. Pest control attends repeatedly and the infestation returns each time because the defect in the building fabric is never addressed. The claim forces the structural repair as well as the treatment.
Why Stockport Tenants Instruct Us
How the funding works is set out in full on our No Win No Fee page.
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 Write to the Right Party
With an ALMO the managing organisation and the legal landlord are not the same body. Correspondence addressed to the wrong one is a common reason claims stall early.
Disrepair We Handle Across the Borough
Damp and Black Mould
Routinely dismissed as condensation. In solid wall terraces and poorly ventilated flats the cause is usually structural and needs more than a wipe down.
Roof and Pipe Leaks
Missing tiles, failed flashing and burst pipes. The landlord must fix the leak and make good the internal damage it caused.
No Heating or Hot Water
Space and water heating are named in Section 11. Leaving a household without a working boiler in winter is a straightforward breach.
Unsafe Electrics
Exposed wiring, tripping consumer units and water reaching fittings are emergency category hazards, not routine jobs to be queued.
Rodents and Infestations
Where pests enter through structural defects, sealing the entry point is the landlord's responsibility, not simply treating what is already inside.
Structural Defects
Progressive cracking, movement and failing brickwork, which need monitoring evidence gathered over time rather than one inspection.
Where the disrepair has made someone in the household ill, the claim can also carry a personal injury element alongside the repair and compensation claim.
How a Stockport Homes Disrepair Claim Works
Four stages, no cost to you at any point unless the claim succeeds. Our compensation calculator gives a realistic starting range before you call.
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, photographs and correspondence, and instruct an independent surveyor to establish the true cause.
Letter of Claim
A formal letter of claim goes to the correct legal landlord 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 Stockport Homes Tenant
Greater Manchester is split between several providers and the picture changes from one borough to the next. If your landlord is someone else, or you are outside Stockport, 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 you reported it and what the operative actually did.
- Dated photographs taken at intervals. Our guide to photographing damp for a report covers what surveyors actually need.
- All correspondence, including portal messages and text confirmations, which are frequently overlooked.
- GP records where the conditions triggered or worsened a respiratory problem.
What Most People Get Wrong
The strongest evidence is rarely the photograph of the mould. It is the paper trail showing the landlord knew and did nothing. Tenants who kept a dated log of calls and reference numbers settle faster than those with only photographs, because notice has to be proved before condition matters.
If your records are incomplete, that is not fatal. The landlord holds its own repair history and we can require disclosure of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I claim against Stockport Homes or the council
Your tenancy is with the council, which remains the legal landlord, while Stockport Homes delivers the repairs service under a management agreement. In practice correspondence goes to both, but the claim is brought against the party holding the repairing covenant. We identify that before anything is issued so the claim is not delayed by going to the wrong body.
Can I be evicted for complaining about repairs
As a secure council tenant your landlord cannot simply end your tenancy because you complained. It must prove a statutory ground and obtain a court order, and bringing a disrepair claim is not a ground. There is more detail in our guide on eviction and repair complaints.
Should I go to the Housing Ombudsman or instruct a solicitor
They do different jobs. The Ombudsman can find maladministration and order a remedy after you have exhausted the complaints procedure, a claim enforces the repair and recovers damages. Our guide on choosing between the Ombudsman route and a solicitor sets out the trade offs.
What if I am currently in rent arrears
You can still claim while in arrears. Part of any compensation may be set against the rent you owe, so the net figure can be lower. We explain how that works at the free assessment rather than after settlement.
How long does a claim usually take
Most cases settle within four to nine months depending on how the landlord responds. Emergency repairs can be enforced much sooner, and Awaab's Law deadlines apply to hazards regardless of the claim timetable.
Is there a time limit
Generally six years from when the disrepair began for the disrepair itself, and three years for any personal injury element. Where a problem has run longer, the earliest period may fall outside the limitation window.
Starting a Housing Disrepair Claim in Stockport
Living in a home that is unsafe or steadily getting worse is exhausting, particularly when every report ends in a closed job and nothing changes. The imbalance between a tenant and a landlord managing thousands of properties is smaller than it looks. The landlord has to meet a statutory standard and has to be able to evidence that it did. You can read about the team who would handle your case.
Use the Complaints Procedure, but Set a Limit
Logging a formal complaint is worth doing. The written record becomes evidence, and the Housing Ombudsman will usually expect you to have been through it. Where it goes wrong is staying inside the internal process indefinitely, treating each holding response as progress. Give it a defined window, keep every reference number, and treat a second missed deadline as the point to escalate. Our guide to filing a complaint against your landlord covers how to word it so it cannot be closed as a general enquiry.
The Right to Repair Scheme
Because Stockport kept ownership of its stock, you are a secure council tenant, and the statutory Right to Repair scheme applies to you. It covers smaller urgent jobs under a set value, with prescribed timescales and a right to have another contractor appointed if the first one misses the deadline. It will not resolve a large structural problem, but it is a fast route for the jobs it does cover. Our explanation of the Right to Repair scheme sets out which repairs qualify.
What Happens When We Take Over
Once instructed, we move the matter out of the customer service queue. 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, and a request for survey access. Landlords that ignored a year of emails usually respond inside the protocol deadline, because the costs consequences of not doing so are real. That shift is most visible with heating failures in council properties, where the safety risk makes delay very hard to defend.
Condensation or Something Structural
Most disputes in this stock come down to this question, because the answer decides who is responsible. Condensation that forms on cold surfaces and clears with ventilation behaves differently from penetrating or rising damp, which leaves tide marks, salt deposits and damage returning in the same place regardless of how the home is used. The difference between condensation and structural damp is worth understanding before your next conversation with the repairs team.
What You Actually Recover
A successful claim has two halves and the first is usually underestimated. The works are enforced, normally under a schedule with dates attached, so the defect is fixed rather than patched again. Damages then cover the period you lived with it, calculated largely against the rent you paid, plus belongings ruined by damp or water, plus any injury element. If you want the arithmetic before you call, read how housing disrepair compensation is calculated.
If your repair has been outstanding for months and the last thing you received was an apology rather than a date, that is the point to get it assessed. Contact our team and we will tell you within 24 hours whether the claim is worth running.
Start Your Claim Today
Free assessment. No obligation. Local expertise for tenants.
Start Free Assessment → 📞 Call 07460 754041Submit Your Enquiry
Use the quick form to send your details directly.
Claim Pages
Ready to Get the Repairs Done
Free assessment, no obligation, and an honest answer about whether your 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 health. We give you a realistic range once we have seen the evidence, not before.
Use the compensation calculator