Do I need a solicitor for a housing disrepair claim?

Direct Answer

Strictly, no. You can pursue housing disrepair yourself, through your landlord's complaints process or the small claims court. But each of those puts the work, the waiting, and the evidence-gathering on you, and the awards are usually smaller. A disrepair solicitor working on a no win, no fee basis costs you nothing upfront, does the work for you, and usually recovers more. Support for Tenants is a regulated company that screens your case for free and refers it to a panel solicitor. If your case is too small to be worth a claim, we tell you honestly on the first call. To find out where you stand, call us free on 0800 030 4669.

Key facts

• The 2024 to 2025 English Housing Survey found the private rented sector accounted for about 4.7 million households, or 19% of all households in England. English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK
• The same survey found about 9% of homes in England, around 2.3 million, had a category 1 (most serious) hazard under the HHSRS. In the private rented sector the figure was 10%. English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK

The routes, and the catch with doing it yourself

1. Your landlord's own complaints process

For social-housing tenants, the landlord's two-stage complaints process can get the landlord to fix the disrepair and apologise, with limited compensation. It is the route to use if you mainly want the repair done.

The catch: you have to work through both stages yourself, the process can take many months, and the awards are smaller than a legal claim. A disrepair claim, by contrast, can recover compensation for the time the home was unfit, for damaged belongings, and for any effect on your health.

2. Small claims court

For damages between £100 and £10,000, you can run a claim yourself. Court fees are £35 to £455 depending on value.

The catch: even on the small claims track the evidence burden is real. A chartered surveyor's report (usually needed for damp, mould and structural cases) costs £500 to £1,500, which you pay for upfront and only recover if you win. You prepare and run the case yourself.

3. A disrepair solicitor (no win, no fee)

A solicitor instructs the surveyor, gathers the expert evidence, prepares the claim, and either negotiates a settlement or runs it in the County Court. Settlements tend to be larger because the court can award general damages, the cost of ruined belongings, and personal-injury damages where someone has been ill.

Under a no win, no fee agreement you pay nothing if you lose. If you win, the solicitor's fee comes only out of your compensation, never out of your own pocket, and the landlord usually pays the solicitor's costs on top.

Is your case strong enough for a claim?

A disrepair claim is usually the stronger route if several of these apply:

• The disrepair is severe, or has gone on for more than 12 months
• It has affected someone's health, and there is medical evidence
• You have damaged belongings (clothes, electronics, furniture)
• The landlord has ignored repeated reports
• The likely compensation is above a few thousand pounds
• You want someone else to handle the surveyor, the evidence, and the paperwork
• You need a faster, more substantial result than the landlord's complaints process tends to deliver

The simplest way to know is a free call. We will look at your reporting history, photos and the impact on you, and tell you straight whether a claim is worth it. If it is not, we say so, there is no pressure.

How Support for Tenants fits

We are a regulated company (FRN 1020217). There is no upfront cost to you, and we refer to housing solicitors. Three things to know.

1. The first call is free. Twenty-five minutes. We listen to your situation and ask about reporting history, photos, medical evidence, and the impact on your household. At the end of the call we tell you honestly whether your case is worth pursuing.

2. If we take it on, there is nothing to pay up front. The panel solicitor we refer to runs the case on a no-win-no-fee basis. The fee only comes out of your compensation if you win, never out of your own pocket, and they explain it in full before you sign. You pay nothing if the case loses. The landlord usually pays the solicitor's costs on top of any settlement.

3. We do not chase you. If we cannot take the case, you will not get marketing follow-up from us.

Quick FAQs

Q: Can I switch from doing it myself to using a solicitor later? Yes. Tenants often start a complaint themselves, find it slow, and then come to us. As long as you are within the six-year limitation period for a Section 11 claim, the route is still open.

Q: Will a solicitor take my case if the damages look modest? Specialist disrepair solicitors typically want minimum damages of around £3,000 to £5,000 to make the case viable. We will tell you on the call whether your case clears that.

Q: What if my landlord is a private landlord? Some solicitors take private-tenant cases, though the threshold is higher. We will tell you on the call whether your private tenancy case fits a solicitor route or whether environmental-health enforcement is the better play.

Free call: 0800 030 4669 | Start a claim

Sources

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims, England (justice.gov.uk)
• Limitation Act 1980 (legislation.gov.uk)