How to report disrepair to your landlord: and what to do if they ignore you

Reporting disrepair correctly is the first and most important step. A later claim, or a council referral, leans on a clear record of when and how you told your landlord. Here is how to report repairs properly, and what to do when no answer comes.

Why does reporting matter?

The duty to repair generally starts only once the landlord knows about the problem. Telling them, and proving you told them, is everything. A spoken report with no record can end up your word against theirs.

How to report disrepair

Put it in writing

Write by email or letter. Writing beats a phone call: it leaves a dated record. Include:

• The address of the home
• A clear picture of the problem: what it is, where it sits, when you first noticed it
• Whether it is worsening, or has damaged belongings or health
• A fair request for the repair to be done

Keep a copy of everything you send.

Be specific

Vague reports, "there's damp in the house", work less well than specific ones: "damp on the inside bedroom wall, spreading from the bottom corner to halfway up, with visible black mould". The more specific the report, the harder it becomes for the landlord to claim they never understood.

Include photographs

Date-stamped photos, and most phone cameras stamp them by themselves, make useful supporting evidence. Take them before any repairs happen.

Give a reasonable timescale

Ask for a response, or the repair begun, within a set period. Two weeks generally passes as fair for non-emergencies. Urgent problems, no heating in winter, a serious leak, deserve shorter.

What counts as an emergency?

Some problems demand much faster action:

• Heating lost entirely in cold weather, above all with children, older people, or disabled people in the home
• A serious structural risk
• A major water leak
• A broken boiler leaving no hot water

For emergencies, ask for a response within 24 hours.

What if the landlord ignores you?

No reply, or no repair? Send a follow-up citing your original report. Say that an unresolved matter will go to the council's environmental health team, and to legal advice.

Still nothing? Two routes remain:

Environmental health: ask the council's team to inspect. They hold powers to make the landlord do the repairs.

A housing disrepair claim: disrepair that cost you money or touched your health may mean compensation. A solicitor can advise whether a claim would likely win.

Keep a record as you go

A short diary, dates, who you spoke to, what was said, reference numbers, helps if things escalate. Add photos at each stage.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

Reported disrepair, and watched nothing happen? Call us. We check whether you may have a claim. If you do, we refer you to an SRA-regulated panel solicitor who gives legal advice and runs the case.

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

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords (GOV.UK)