Complaining to your MP about housing disrepair

Writing to your Member of Parliament (MP) is a fair step to take. Use it when you cannot get your landlord to do repairs and other routes have not worked. An MP cannot order your landlord to fix anything. But their help adds pressure, and it can open doors that one tenant alone cannot. Below, we cover when and how to contact your MP.

What can an MP do?

An MP has no legal power over private landlords or housing associations. But an MP can:

• Write to your landlord or council for you: an MP's letter often gets a faster reply than a tenant's
• Contact the Housing Ombudsman or the council: if you rent social housing and the complaints process is over, the MP can push it on
• Raise it in Parliament: in the worst cases, an MP can ask a question about local housing, or speak in a debate
• Refer your case to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman: if the council skipped its own housing or health checks
• Put pressure on a housing association: these are charities, and they are regulated. They care how this looks to an MP

When is it worth contacting your MP?

Your MP can help most when:

• You told your landlord in writing, and they have not acted in fair time
• You went to environmental health, but nothing happened, or the work is still not done
• You rent social housing and the complaints process led nowhere
• The problem is urgent, like no heating in winter, and you need pressure fast

An MP works alongside your legal routes, not instead of them. Those routes: environmental health, the Housing Ombudsman for social tenants, and a disrepair claim.

How do I find my MP?

Use the postcode lookup on the Parliament website, members.parliament.uk. Most MPs hold regular drop-in surgeries. Every MP has an email address.

What should I include in my letter?

Keep the letter clear. Stick to the facts. Include:

• Your address and how to reach you
• How long the problem has been there
• What you told your landlord, and when
• What the landlord did, if anything at all
• How it has hurt your household's health or safety
• What you want the MP to do: write to the landlord, contact the council, and so on

Attach copies of your letters and messages to and from the landlord.

Is there anything an MP cannot do?

Your MP cannot:

• Order your landlord to do repairs
• Act as your lawyer
• Overrule a court or the Housing Ombudsman
• Promise you any result

Their help is about pressure, and about opening up ways to talk.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

Contacting your MP is one step in a wider plan. If unfixed repairs are harming your health, you may also be able to bring a housing disrepair claim.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Housing Ombudsman Service
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)

Related articles

• What to do if your landlord ignores your repair request