How to Complain to the Local Housing Authority?
By Olivia Morris. Last updated 21st May 2021. If you’re wondering how to complain to the local housing authority, this guide can help.
On this page, you will find a guide to how to complain to the local housing authority, and also on making a personal injury claim for an injury or illness caused by housing disrepair. Housing disrepair is a serious issue, especially when it results in health-threatening hazards such as damp and mould. This guide covers the process of claiming from your local housing authority for such cases of housing disrepair.
If you don’t have the free time to read all of this guide, then you can call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804, and we will walk you through the process of making a housing disrepair claim against your local housing authority.
Select a Section:
- A Guide to Complaining to the Local Housing Authority?
- What Are Local Housing Authorities?
- What Does Housing Disrepair Mean?
- Complaints Which Can Be Referred to The Housing Ombudsman
- What Steps Do You Need to Take to Complain?
- What Evidence Do You Need To Make A Complaint
- Follow Your Housing Authorities Complaints Procedure First
- Taking Your Local Housing Authority to Court for Housing Disrepair
- Local Housing Authority Complaints Calculator
- No Win No Fee Local Housing Authority Complaints
- How Our Team Can Help You Complain to Your Local Housing Authority
- Contact Legal Expert Today
- Links, Resources, And Further Information
A Guide to Complaining to the Local Housing Authority?
how to complain to the local housing authority
Welcome to our guide on how to complain to the local housing authority.
Housing disrepair can range in severity from a minor annoyance to a health hazard that requires immediate attention. If you are renting from your local housing authority, then the authority has certain legal responsibilities regarding keeping your home in a fit state to live in. When they fail in this responsibility, you will have a reason to make a compensation claim. If the housing disrepair has led to an injury or an illness, then you will make a personal injury claim. This guide contains all you need to know about making a compensation claim for housing disrepair against your local housing authority, including:
- A description of what a local housing authority is and what it does.
- A description of what housing disrepair is and some of the forms it can take.
- How the Housing Ombudsman can handle some complaint about housing disrepair against the local housing authority.
- The steps you should follow to make a complaint against the local housing authority for housing disrepair.
- The kinds of evidence you could gather to support your claim for housing disrepair.
- Information on how the formal complaints procedure for the housing authority must be followed before making a claim for housing disrepair.
- Details of how you can take your housing authority to court if they fail to deal with the housing disrepair complaint.
- A list of typical amounts you might claim for personal injury or illness due to housing disrepair, as well as a list of the most common types of damages you might claim.
- Information about the national claims service Legal Expert offers under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) for people to make housing disrepair claims against the local housing authority.
When you have gone over this guide, if you still have some questions, then call us on the number in the last section, and we will do our very best to answer them all for you.
What Are Local Housing Authorities?
Before we look at how to complain to the local housing authority, let’s look at what these authorities actually are.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14380936
Take a look at the graph above; we can see that social housing has become one of the main ways that lower-income families procure a home for themselves. Therefore, there is a rise in the need to make compensation claims against the local housing authority.
Your local housing authority is the overall organisation that is responsible for housing people in non-private rented accommodation. Either by offering council-owned homes or by contracted a portion of the housing requirements out to one or more local housing associations.
If you need to make a claim against your local housing authority for housing disrepair that caused an illness or injury, Legal Expert can help you to make personal injury claims, call us on the number at the bottom of this page to proceed.
What Does Housing Disrepair Mean?
Before we look at how to complain to the local housing authority, let’s look at what housing disrepair is.
Housing disrepair is a term that is used to describe any damage to a property, either caused by wear or tear or accidental damage, that has a negative effect upon the lives of the people living in the home, for example:
- Damp and mould
- Leaking pipes or roof
- No supplies of water, gas or electricity
- No hot water or heating
- Damaged windows or doors
- Structural damage making the house unsafe
These are just a few of the ways that housing disrepair can manifest itself. If any of these were to cause you illness or injury, then as long as you are making your claim within the personal injury claims time limit of three years, Legal Expert can help claim compensation. Call us at the number at the bottom of this guide to proceed.
Complaints Which Can Be Referred to The Housing Ombudsman
If you’re wondering how to complain to the local housing authority, you may have heard of the housing ombudsman. The housing ombudsmen will entertain complaints regarding housing disrepair against the local housing authority in a number of situations, including:
- The state of communal or shared areas of a property with regards to cleanliness or repairs.
- Problems arising from boundary questions.
- The maintenance of the grounds the property is built on.
- Parking spaces that are provided as part of the tenancy agreement.
- Housing disrepair that has gone unresolved after the housing authority complaints process has completed.
If you need to make a claim for an injury or illness that has been caused by housing disrepair, Legal Expert can link you up with a personal injury lawyer who will help you claim against the local housing authority. Call us at the number at the bottom of this page to find out how.
What Steps Do You Need to Take to Complain?
Before you make a housing disrepair claim, you should report the problem to the Housing Ombudsman. The complaints process works as defined below.
First Complain to your Housing Authority
If you’re wondering how to complain to the local housing authority, the first step you should follow is by going down the route of filing an official complaint with the local housing authority. This is so they have a chance to address the problem and fix the housing disrepair. If this fails, then you move on to the next phase.
Complain to the Housing Ombudsman
If your housing authority has not acted on your complaint within 12 weeks (possibly longer in some cases). Then you can contact the Housing Ombudsman and make a formal complaint about your housing authority.
The Ombudsman Can Only Help When
The housing disrepair you are complaining about must have happened in the last 12 months, no longer. You will also need to have been personally affected by the housing disrepair; they can’t help you with complaints about somebody else’s housing.
How the Complaint Works
They will take a look at your complaint and decide if a) they can help you with it and b) whether they can successfully investigate it. If they decide to proceed, they may contact you for further information. They won’t contact you to let you know how your complaint goes. Instead, they post results anonymously on the Housing Ombudsman website.
If you have complained to the housing authority and the Housing Ombudsman with no result, Legal Expert can help you to make a claim for housing disrepair. Call us at the number at the bottom of this page to find out just how we can do this.
What Evidence Do You Need To Make A Complaint
If you’re wondering how to complain to the local housing authority, you may also be wondering what evidence you require.
When you make a claim for housing disrepair compensation, you can gather evidence to support your claim, that will give you a much better chance of being successful. The types of evidence you could gather includes:
- Keep copies of all letters, emails between you and the housing authority.
- Take photos or video showing the housing disrepair.
- Provide information about anything the housing authority has done towards fixing the disrepair.
- Keep a record of all of the telephone calls you have had with the housing authority.
- Provide medical records proving the illness or injury the disrepair caused.
- Keep receipts for anything you have had to spend directly because of the disrepair.
If you have gathered evidence such as those detailed above, Legal Expert can help you make a claim against your housing authority for housing disrepair more easily. Call us at the number at the end of this page to proceed.
Follow Your Housing Authorities Complaints Procedure First
If you’re thinking about how to complain to the local housing authority, it’s important to follow the formal complaints procedure of your local housing authority before making a compensation claim.
You should have received information about this procedure when you signed your tenancy agreement. If you don’t have it, contact the authority and ask them for a copy.
It is important to note that you cannot legally withhold rent if your home is in a state of disrepair, if you do, then the housing authority could evict you. So, do not attempt to apply leverage in this way. Instead, follow the proper procedure, and it this fails, move on to making a full compensation claim.
Legal Expert can connect you with a personal injury solicitor, who will be able to help you make a claim for an injury or illness caused by housing disrepair.
Taking Your Local Housing Authority to Court for Housing Disrepair
When all else fails, when the formal complaints procedure of the housing authority didn’t get the housing disrepair fixed, when the Housing Ombudsman has not taken action, and there is no other route to a solution, then you can make a legal compensation claim against the housing authority.
Legal Expert can help you with this. All you need to do is give us a quick call on the telephone number at the bottom of this guide, and we can take it from there.
Local Housing Authority Complaints Calculator
If you’re wondering how to complain to the local housing authority, you may also be wondering how much you could be entitled to claim against them. We have not provided a personal injury claims calculator, we have instead published this table based on actual amounts paid to people for a range of claims:
Updated May 2021.
| Problem? | Severity? | Notes | Payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neck injury | Minor – severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of the entire neck. | Up to £139,210 |
| Back injury | Minor – severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of the entire back. | Up to £151,070 |
| Hand injury | Minor – serious | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of either one or both of the hands. | Up to £189,110 |
| Wrist injury | Minor – severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of either one or both of the wrists. | Up to £56,180 |
| Arm injury | Moderate – severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of either one or both of the arms. | Up to £281,520 |
| Finger injury | Minor – severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of either one up to all of the fingers. | Up to £85,170 |
| Ankle injury | Minor – severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of either one or both of the ankles. | Up to £65,420 |
| Foot injury | Minor – very severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of either one or both of the feet. | Up to £189,110 |
| Leg injury | Minor – severe | This relates to minor symptoms such as cuts, bruises or minor burns, all the way through severity up to complete loss of function of either one or both of the legs. | Up to £264,650 |
Get a much more accurate estimate of how much you might claim by calling Legal Expert on the number at the end of this page.
Every compensation claim is made up of a number of different damages, which can include but are in no way limited to:
- Special damages – all of the non-physical things pertaining to your injury or illness:
- Care costs – this will cover the payment for either in-home nursing or help around the house.
- Travel costs – if you needed to use public transport to get to the hospital to have your injury or illness treated.
- Medical fees – if you had to pay out of your own pocket for any type of private medical care for your injury or illness.
- Loss of earnings – if you have missed work and lost out on pay.
- Loss of future potential – if your future work potential is lessened.
- General damages – all of the physical things pertaining to your injury or illness:
- Pain and hardship – covering the pain of the injury itself, and also having it first treated.
- Long-term suffering – if your recovery will be long and painful.
- Psychological injuries – if you develop mental issues such as PTSD, depression or anxiety.
- Permanent disability – if your life quality will be permanently lowered.
For a much more accurate estimate of the types of damages, you might be able to claim in your case, contact Legal Expert at the phone number towards the end of this guide. Alternatively, read on for more information on how to complain to the local housing authority.
No Win No Fee Local Housing Authority Complaints
Legal Expert has a solution for people who want to make a housing disrepair claim against their local housing authority at no financial risk to themselves. Our No Win No Fee claims service is available to people all across the UK.
Under this type of fee structure, you don’t have to pay anything at all for us to instigate a claim on your behalf and even if we end up taking months to finally settle the claim, we won’t ask you to pay any ongoing legal fees. If in the end, we are unable to claim compensation for you, then you pay nothing at all. Only when you receive a compensation payment, will you be asked to pay our fees. You really have nothing to lose.
Call Legal Expert on the number below to find out more about how this national claims service can help you to make a compensation claim for housing disrepair against your local housing authority.
How Our Team Can Help You Complain to Your Local Housing Authority
Are you wondering how to complain to the local housing authority? Legal Expert is able to help people who have suffered an injury, illness or damage to their property due to housing disrepair, by making a compensation claim against the local housing authority.
We are on hand to give you regular status updates about your claim, and to deal with any questions you might have about what we are doing for you. We always aim to secure you the highest level of compensation possible and do everything that we can to give you the best chance of winning your claim.
Call Legal Expert at the number below, and we can get started with your housing disrepair claim today.
Contact Legal Expert Today
how to complain to the local housing authority
Have you suffered an illness, injury or damage to your private property sue to housing disrepair on the part of your local housing authority? If you have, then Legal Expert can help you learn how to complain to the local housing authority and assist any subsequent compensation claims. Call us on 0800 073 8804 today so that we can offer you some free legal advice on what your next move should be.
How to complain to the local housing authority FAQs
Who do I complain to about a housing association?
The Housing Ombudsman is an independent free service that you can complain about your landlord to if they have not acted upon your complaint within 12 weeks.
What does the housing ombudsman do?
The housing ombudsmen can handle complaints regarding housing disrepair against the local housing authority in a number of situations, including:
- The state of communal or shared areas of a property with regards to cleanliness or repairs.
- Problems arising from boundary questions.
- The maintenance of the grounds the property is built on.
- Parking spaces that are provided as part of the tenancy agreement.
- Housing disrepair that has gone unresolved after the housing authority complaints process has completed.
When can I complain to the Housing Ombudsman?
The housing disrepair you are complaining about must have happened in the last 12 months, no longer. You will also need to have been personally affected by the housing disrepair; they can’t help you with complaints about somebody else’s housing.
How long do I have to make a personal injury claim?
For any suffering that you’ve experienced as a result of your housing disrepair, you could be able to claim compensation for it. You have 3 years to do so, effective from the date that you realised you’d been impacted.
Can I claim on behalf of someone else?
You could act as a litigation friend for a loved one if they’re unable to claim for themselves, whether that be your child under 18 or a loved one that’s incapacitated.
What damages could my personal injury claim include?
- General damages: physical injury and psychological harm
- Special damages: financial losses, including any loss of earnings
Do I need to get a lawyer?
There isn’t a legal requirement to get a lawyer in order to make a claim, but having one handle your case could improve your chances of getting the maximum compensation you deserve.
How can I get in touch with Legal Expert?
Please see our contact section for more details.
Links, Resources, And Further Information
At the following link, you will find information about making a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman:
Making a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman
At the following link, you will find information about the entire end-to-end process of making a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman:
The process of making a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman
At the following link, you will find a guide to making a claim for slip, trip and fall accidents that could have been caused by housing disrepair:
A guide to slip, trip and fall claims
At the following link, you will find a guide to making a claim against your landlord:
A guide to claiming against your landlord
Thanks for reading our guide on how to complain to the local housing authority.
