What you're building
Dated photos/videos of the disrepair
Every report and chase, in writing
A timeline log of dates and responses
Confirmation your council/ombudsman complaint was logged
Notes on any health impact, if relevant
A ready-to-use evidence pack for a compensation claim
Phase 1
Report It The Right Way
How you report the issue now becomes your evidence later. A landlord can't claim "I was never told" if you've done this properly from day one.
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Report it in writing
⚠ Critical
Report the issue in writing — even if you've already called or texted
A phone call doesn't start any legal clock and is hard to prove later. Follow up every call with an email or text: "Following our call today, I'm reporting [issue] at [address]. Please confirm receipt and let me know when this will be fixed." If your landlord responds by phone, log a quick summary of what they said — including any date they promised — in your BeTenant issue log straight after the call, so there's still a dated record even though the conversation itself was verbal.
Keep a dedicated email thread or folder for repair correspondence — this becomes your evidence pack if things drag on.
⚠ Critical
Photograph and date the problem immediately
Photograph the issue from a wide shot and a close-up, and note when you first noticed it. For damp, mould, leaks, or anything that changes over time, photograph it again every few days to show how it's progressing.
If you have a BeTenant account, log the issue in the app — it timestamps everything automatically.
Make your report count
★ Important
Be specific — location, what's wrong, and any safety risk
Vague reports are easy to deprioritise. Say exactly what's wrong ("mould covering the bathroom ceiling, approx. 40cm x 30cm"), where it is, when it started, and whether it's a health or safety risk (e.g. no heating, gas smell, electrical fault).
If there's any risk to gas, electrics, or structural safety, say so explicitly — this affects how quickly your landlord is legally required to respond.
★ Important
Know your landlord's legal repair duty
Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, your landlord must keep the structure and exterior, and the installations for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation, in proper working order — regardless of what your tenancy agreement says.
This duty can't be removed by anything in your tenancy agreement — it's a legal minimum that applies to almost all tenancies.
★ Important
Check if it affects your home's basic fitness to live in
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 gives you the right to take your landlord to court directly if your home is unfit to live in — covering issues like serious damp, mould, cold, or disrepair that makes the property unsafe or unhealthy.
This is a separate right from s.11 — it can apply even where the repair issue isn't strictly "structural".
✓ Good practice
Start a dated diary of the issue and any health impact
Note each date you noticed a change, reported something, or experienced a health effect (e.g. coughing, allergies, can't use a room). This becomes useful both for chasing your landlord and for any compensation claim later.
A simple notes app entry with the date is enough — or keep this log directly in the BeTenant app, alongside your photos and reports, so everything sits in one place.
Phase 2
Still Not Fixed? Escalate In Writing
No response, or repeated promises with no action? This is where you turn a casual request into a documented paper trail that's hard to ignore.
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Chase it properly
⚠ Critical
Send a written follow-up after 14 days for non-urgent issues
If a routine repair hasn't been actioned within about 14 days, send a follow-up referencing your original report: "I reported this on [date] and haven't had a response. Please confirm when this will be fixed." For emergencies — no heating, no hot water, gas leaks, sewage — there's no waiting; chase immediately.
Always reference the original date. This shows a clear timeline if you need to escalate later — BeTenant tracks your report date automatically and can flag when a chase is overdue.
⚠ Critical
Send a formal "letter before action" after 28 days unresolved
If it's been around 28 days with no real progress, send a formal letter (email is fine) stating the issue, the date first reported, that your landlord has a legal duty to repair under s.11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and that you may contact your council or seek compensation if it isn't resolved by a clear deadline.
Shelter and Citizens Advice both have free template "letter before action" wording you can adapt. BeTenant's issue tracker can also generate a letter like this, pre-filled with your dates and report history.
Build the pressure
★ Important
Copy in the letting agent, if there is one
Sometimes delays are caused by the agent, not the landlord — or the landlord genuinely hasn't been told. CC both, or send to whichever is correctly responsible for repairs under your tenancy agreement.
If the agent and landlord start blaming each other, that's useful evidence that the system — not you — is the problem.
★ Important
Set a clear, final written deadline
Give a specific date: "If this isn't resolved by [date, ~7–14 days away], I'll be reporting it to the council's environmental health team." A concrete deadline is far more effective than an open-ended request.
Naming the next step (council, ombudsman) signals you know your rights — landlords often act faster once they realise that.
✓ Good practice
Don't withhold rent or pay for repairs yourself without advice
It's tempting to stop paying rent or arrange the repair yourself and deduct the cost, but doing this without following the correct legal process can backfire and put your tenancy at risk. Get advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice before taking either step.
There are very specific "repair and deduct" rules that must be followed exactly — it's rarely worth the risk without proper advice first.
✓ Good practice
Keep a single timeline log of every contact and response
List every report, chase, and reply (or non-reply) with dates in one place — a notes doc, spreadsheet, or the BeTenant app. This is the single most useful document if you end up escalating to the council, an ombudsman, or court.
Include "no response" as its own logged entry — silence is evidence too.
Phase 3
Go Over Their Head
If your landlord or agent keeps ignoring you, you don't need their cooperation to get this moving. These routes have real legal teeth.
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Report to the people with enforcement power
⚠ Critical
Report it to your council's Environmental Health team
Any tenant — private, council, or housing association — can ask their local council to inspect the property under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), part of the Housing Act 2004. If they find a serious hazard, they can serve a legally binding improvement notice on your landlord. It's free.
Search "[your council name] environmental health housing complaint" — most have an online form. If you've logged the issue in BeTenant, attach your evidence report to the complaint — councils respond faster to a clear, dated record.
⚠ Critical
Council or housing association tenant? Use the Housing Ombudsman
If your landlord is a council or housing association, you must first complete their formal internal complaints process — then, if it's still unresolved, escalate to the Housing Ombudsman, which is free and can order repairs and compensation.
Keep copies of every complaint reference number — the Ombudsman will ask for them.
Other escalation routes
★ Important
Letting agent involved? Complain to their redress scheme
All letting agents in England must belong to either the Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme. If the agent is the one dragging their feet, you can complain directly to whichever scheme they belong to — it's free for tenants.
The agent's scheme membership is usually listed on their website footer or your tenancy paperwork.
★ Important
Know you're protected from "revenge eviction"
Under section 33 of the Deregulation Act 2015, a landlord generally can't validly evict you using certain routes within 6 months of you making a legitimate complaint about disrepair or a council enforcement notice being served. Don't let fear of eviction stop you from reporting.
If you're served a notice shortly after reporting a repair issue, get advice immediately — the timing itself may make it invalid.
✓ Good practice
Get free, tailored advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice
Both offer free, confidential advice specific to your situation — especially useful if you're worried about retaliation, unsure which route applies to your tenancy type, or need help wording a complaint.
Shelter England: 0808 800 4444. Both also have extensive template letters on their websites.
✓ Good practice
For serious or long-running cases, involve your local councillor or MP
If a council landlord or major issue has gone unresolved for months, a message to your local councillor or MP describing the situation can add real pressure — they can raise it directly with housing departments or providers.
Keep it factual and include your timeline log — councillors and MPs respond well to clear, dated evidence. BeTenant can export your full timeline as a ready-to-attach document.
Phase 4
Compensation & Legal Action
If your landlord still won't fix it — or didn't fix it for a long time — you may be entitled to money back, not just the repair itself.
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What you might be owed
⚠ Critical
You may be able to claim compensation for the time you lived with the disrepair
Courts can award compensation reflecting the reduced value of living in a property with unresolved disrepair — often calculated as a percentage of rent for the affected period, depending on severity and how long it went on for.
The worse the issue and the longer it was ignored after being reported, the stronger your claim typically is.
⚠ Critical
Small claims court is the main route — and you don't need a solicitor
In England and Wales, you can bring a disrepair compensation claim through the small claims track (Money Claim Online) for claims up to £10,000. It's designed to be used without a lawyer, and the fee is proportionate to the amount claimed.
Many disrepair claims are settled once the landlord receives formal notice that a claim is being prepared — it rarely needs to reach a hearing.
Getting ready to claim
★ Important
Pull together your full evidence pack
Gather your dated photos and videos, every written report and chase, your timeline log, any council inspection or enforcement notices, and notes on any health impact. Organise it chronologically — this is what makes or breaks a claim.
If you've been using BeTenant to log issues, this evidence is already timestamped and organised for you.
★ Important
Send a formal "letter of claim" before going to court
Before issuing a court claim, send a letter setting out the disrepair, the dates, your landlord's legal duty, and the compensation you're seeking — giving them a final chance to respond (typically 14 days). Many landlords settle at this stage rather than face court.
Citizens Advice and Shelter both have disrepair letter-of-claim templates you can adapt with your own dates and details. Or attach your BeTenant evidence report — landlords are far more likely to settle once they see a complete, dated record.
✓ Good practice
Check if you might qualify for legal aid
Legal aid for housing disrepair is limited but does exist in serious cases — particularly where the disrepair poses a real risk to health or safety. A housing legal aid solicitor can tell you quickly whether your case qualifies.
Search "legal aid housing disrepair solicitor" plus your area, or ask Shelter for a referral.
✓ Good practice
Moving out doesn't mean giving up your claim
You can usually still claim compensation for the period you lived with the disrepair even after you've moved out — the claim relates to the time the issue existed, not where you live now. Just make sure you follow your own notice obligations correctly when you leave.
Keep your forwarding address on file with your landlord/agent in case of any related correspondence.
🔧
You've got your escalation plan. Now build the evidence pack that backs it up.
BeTenant logs every report with a tamper-evident timestamp, tracks your landlord's response deadlines automatically, and generates a formatted evidence report you can hand straight to a council, ombudsman, or court — from your phone.
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