We're seeing a growing number of companies contacting tenants to offer a 'no win, no fee' service for housing disrepair. Many of these companies will cold call tenants about making a claim against us for disrepair.

Things to remember when it comes to disrepair claims:

  • We never work with these companies, and they are not connected to us in any way
  • These companies tend to operate on a 'no win, no fee' basis - but the fee they charge can be very high.

Before considering taking action against us we would always ask you to contact us first and give us the opportunity to put things right for you.

If there's an occasion where we don't meet our standards, we have a feedback process that can be followed to help resolve the matter. It's important to us that you're happy with the services we provide so that you don't end up feeling like you need to make a claim against us, but if you're unhappy with any part of our repairs service, please get in touch today so we can make things right.

We’ll always defend any claim where we feel it’s unjustified and have a dedicated team to handle complex cases.

We recently successfully defended a disrepair claim and were awarded more than £19,000 in court costs that the tenant is now responsible for paying to us. During the trial, the judge highlighted ill advice our tenant received from their solicitors, who insisted we should not be granted access to carry out repairs. This meant the tenant had been living in a home with outstanding repairs for longer than was necessary and for no good reason.

The awarded costs in this case are key because they show the risks for tenants who might not fully understand 'no win, no fee' deals. These deals can have different terms, and if tenants' solicitors don't have the right insurance or enough coverage, tenants could end up paying all the legal costs if they lose the case - which as you can see, can be huge sums.

We always want to work positively with our tenants to ensure we meet standards and keep homes in good repair. If you notice a repair within your home or in one of our communal areas, please let us know. There are certain repairs that we're not responsible for, but we'll advise should this be the case.