Private housing disrepair

This fact sheet is primarily aimed at people living in private rented accommodation who have reported disrepair to the council and are considering making a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

My private rented property is in disrepair. Can the Ombudsman help me?

In some cases, yes. But first you will need to contact the council to give it the opportunity to investigate the disrepair you complain about. If you are not satisfied with the council’s response to the matter, you may complain to us.

What is disrepair?

Councils have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System to take enforcement action against private landlords where the council has identified a hazard which puts the health and safety of the tenant at risk. Hazards include (but are not limited to):

  • damp and mould growth
  • excess cold or heat
  • pollutants
  • overcrowding
  • fire
  • risk from falls, and
  • electrical shocks.

Where the council identifies the most serious (‘Category 1’) hazards it is required to take action, but it may choose to take action about less serious (‘Category 2’) hazards

What should the council do?

Once you have reported the disrepair to the council, we would expect the council to promptly consider the matter. This would normally require a visit to your property so the council can inspect the disrepair and make an assessment of the risk to you. If the council identifies a hazard it will need to form a view on whether the hazard can or should be reduced, or removed entirely, and if this is not possible what further action is needed. Unless urgent action is required, the council should give your landlord the opportunity to put the matter right. If the landlord does not take the necessary action, the council should consider using its power to do the work or start enforcement action.  

I am a landlord. Will the Ombudsman investigate my complaint about repairs the council has asked me to make to my property?

Possibly. We can consider if the council did something wrong in the way it investigated a complaint of disrepair from your tenant and whether you were caused an injustice as a result. But, we would not normally investigate if the council takes enforcement proceedings against you. This is because most legal notices the council may serve against you have a right of appeal which we would generally expect to be used. 

How do I complain?

You should normally complain to the council first.

Then, if you are unhappy with the outcome, or the council is taking too long to look into the matter – we think 12 weeks is reasonable – you can complain to us.

Usually, you should complain to us within 12 months of when you first knew about the problem. If you leave it any later, we may not be able to help.

For more information on how to complain, please read our step by step process

If you can consider my complaint what will the Ombudsman look for?

We will consider whether the council has done something wrong in the way it responded to the disrepair you reported. For example, if the council:

  • took too long to inspect your property and/or take action against your landlord
  • did not take enforcement action when it had a duty to do so, or
  • did not keep you updated on its investigation.

What happens if the Ombudsman finds the council was at fault?

If we find the council did not deal with your case properly we will consider whether it should do something to put matters right. We may ask the council to:

  • take urgent steps to inspect the property or carry out the repair, or
  • assess whether enforcement action is required.

Sometimes we ask the council to make a payment. We may also recommend that it reviews the way it deals with similar cases.

Examples of some complaints we have considered

Mr A complained about the council’s response to his complaint about disrepair at his privately rented property Mr X reported his house was damp and water was leaking. The council inspected the property. It decided there were no category 1 hazards and Mr A should report the leak to the landlord. Mr A later came back to the council to report ongoing concerns about disrepair issues. The council carried out a further inspection. It determined there were no category 1 hazards. But the HHSRS enforcement guidance says, when councils carry out inspections, they should determine whether there are any category 2 hazards. Some of the concerns Mr A reported were potential category 2 hazards. We found the council’s failure to determine whether there were any category 2 hazards was not in line with the guidance and fault. The council agreed with our recommendation it should carry out a new inspection and record its assessment of whether any hazards in the HHSRS exist at Mr A’s home and provide him with the outcome of its inspection. It also agreed to remind its officers to record its assessment of both category 1 and 2 hazards in their inspection reports.
Ms X complained the council failed to take proper action against her landlord when she reported serious disrepair – a faulty boiler, poor heating, mould and damp and excessive draughts – at her private rented property. The council inspected the property and completed an HHSRS assessment in December 2019, identifying two Category 1 hazards. It issued the landlord with a Schedule of Works. This was not completed within the specified time. The council did not take any formal action until July 2021, when it served an improvement notice. We found this delay by the council in taking formal action was fault. This caused Miss X injustice because she had to continue living in a property with Category 1 hazards for longer than necessary.  The council agreed with our recommendations it should apologise to Miss X, pay her £150 a month for the 14 months delay in taking action and £500 for distress and time and trouble. The Council also agreed to remind its officers about the requirement to take formal action when a Category 1 hazard is identified.
 

Other sources of information

Government guidance on the Housing Health and Safety Rating System: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9425/150940.pdf

Our fact sheets give some general information about the most common type of complaints we receive but they cannot cover every situation. If you are not sure whether we can look into your complaint, please call 0300 061 0614.

We provide a free, independent and impartial service. We consider complaints about the administrative actions of councils and some other authorities. We cannot question what a council has done simply because someone does not agree with it. If we find something has gone wrong, such as poor service, service failure, delay or bad advice and that a person has suffered as a result we aim to get it put right by recommending a suitable remedy.

October 2024 

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