For health visitors: referring families in housing disrepair

Health visitors regularly see families living in damp, cold, overcrowded and dangerous housing. You are often the first professional to witness conditions that are making children ill. Here is how to refer a family to Support for Tenants and what you can do to support their claim.

Why health visitors are well placed to identify housing disrepair

Health visitors conduct home visits as a core part of their role. You see conditions that other professionals do not: condensation on windows, black mould in bedrooms, cold rooms in winter, broken boilers, pest infestations. You also see the consequences, respiratory infections, eczema, disturbed sleep, developmental difficulties, and parental stress.

You may be the first person to confirm a link between what you are seeing and what the child or family has reported to their landlord without being taken seriously.

What Support for Tenants does

We are a housing disrepair claims management company. We act for tenants, on a no win, no fee basis, who are living in rental properties that are in disrepair and where the landlord has not repaired them after being given notice.

We handle claims against:

• Council landlords
• Housing associations
• Private landlords

Tenants do not pay anything upfront. If their claim succeeds, the fee comes from the compensation. If it does not succeed, they pay nothing.

How to refer a family

Step one, check eligibility broadly

The family is likely to be eligible for a free assessment if:

• They are renting (council, housing association, or private)
• There is disrepair, damp, mould, broken heating, leaks, pests, or structural problems
• They have reported the problem to their landlord or the local authority at some point
• They are within six years of when the problem started (or within three years for a personal injury element)

Step two, share our details with the family

You can give families our number: 0800 030 4669. You can also signpost them to our website, or use the ready-to-send message at /help-centre/a-message-you-can-send-your-patient-or-client, this is designed to be copied and sent as a text or printed to give to a family.

Step three, offer to support with a letter if appropriate

A brief letter from a health visitor connecting what you have observed in the home with the child or family's health is highly valuable evidence. You do not need to write a formal report or make clinical determinations outside your scope of practice. A factual record of what you observed, when, and what health concerns the family has raised is sufficient. See our guide for professionals on writing a medical evidence letter at /help-centre/medical-evidence-letter-for-housing-claim.

What your letter might include

A useful health visitor letter typically includes:

• Date of the visit(s) to the property
• What you observed (mould on walls, condensation, cold temperature of the room, state of heating)
• The child's age and relevant health history as it relates to housing (for example, repeated chest infections, eczema, disturbed sleep)
• The parent's account of how long the problem has existed and what they have reported to the landlord
• Your professional view on whether the housing conditions are likely to be contributing to the health problems you have observed

You do not need to make legal determinations. You are providing a factual record of what you saw and heard.

Consent and confidentiality

Before referring or writing a letter, make sure you have the family's informed consent. Explain:

• What Support for Tenants does
• That their details will be shared with us to allow us to contact them
• That any letter you write will form part of their claim file

Standard consent principles apply. You can use our consent guide at /help-centre/consent-and-confidentiality-when-referring-to-us as a reference.

Conditions that are most relevant to housing

Common health presentations in children that are often linked to housing disrepair:

• Recurrent chest infections or wheezing: often associated with damp and mould, and with cold rooms
• Eczema and allergic skin conditions: mould spores and dust mites (which thrive in damp conditions) are established triggers
• Sleep disturbance: cold bedrooms, condensation on walls, noise from disrepair
• Delayed development: overcrowded housing, lack of quiet space, disrupted routines

In all of these cases, your observation of the housing conditions and the family's reported repair history helps build the case.

Free resources

We provide free leaflets and materials for health visiting services and children's centres. To request these for your service, call 0800 030 4669 or see /help-centre/order-free-leaflets-and-posters-for-your-service.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

If you want to discuss a referral, understand eligibility better, or request support materials for your service, call us on 0800 030 4669.

Sources

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Understanding and addressing the health risks of damp and mould in the home (GOV.UK)

Related articles

• How to refer a patient to Support for Tenants
• Medical evidence letter, for housing claim
• Consent and confidentiality when referring to us
• Mould, making my child ill