Damages
£3,800
For tenants · England & Wales · Small claims under £10,000
Force the repairs.
Claim compensation for the wait.
Damp, mould, broken heating or structural problems your landlord won’t fix? Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 imposes a hard duty to repair. CourtPilot drafts the letter, the disrepair particulars and the bundle.
We help you prepare the documents and file them yourself — you’re always the claimant on the record. Not a law firm, no legal advice given.
✓ LTA 1985 s.11 — landlord’s repair duty
✓ Fitness for Human Habitation Act 2018
✓ s.69 interest at 8% recoverable
£1k–£10k typical claim ✓
s.11
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — the section that puts the duty to repair on the landlord, not the tenant.
2018
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act — added a statutory duty for the home to be fit for habitation throughout.
£1k–£10k
Typical housing-disrepair claim — covering general damages, special damages and lost amenity.
Can you take this to court?
Five checks.
If most are yes, you’ve got a claim.
Disrepair claims hinge on notice. The landlord’s duty only bites once they know about the problem — so contemporaneous, written notice is the single most important piece of evidence in the case.
1
Your landlord has failed to carry out essential repairs after being notified.
2
The disrepair affects the structure, exterior, or installations (heating, water, gas, electricity, sanitation).
3
You reported the issue in writing and gave a reasonable time to fix it.
4
The condition is affecting your health, comfort, or safety.
5
You have evidence — photos, dated correspondence, medical records.
· Eligibility self-check
✓Your landlord has failed to carry out essential repairs after being notified.
✓The disrepair affects the structure, exterior, or installations (heating, water, gas, electricity, sanitation).
✓You reported the issue in writing and gave a reasonable time to fix it.
✓The condition is affecting your health, comfort, or safety.
What CourtPilot drafts for you
Pleaded to s.11 LTA 1985.
Not a template.
Generic complaint letters don’t cite the duty. CourtPilot drafts to Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.11 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 — names the works, the notice given, and the period of disrepair.
1
Letter Before Action — Follows the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims — names the disrepair, the notice given, the works required, and the 20-working-day deadline for a substantive response.
2
Schedule of disrepair — Room-by-room list with dates of notice, photos and the impact on you — the document the surveyor and the judge will look at first.
3
Particulars of Claim — Pleaded to CPR Part 16, citing s.11 LTA 1985 and the Fitness for Habitation Act 2018, with general damages, special damages and any rent diminution.
4
Witness statement & court bundle — Your account with photos, correspondence and medical evidence exhibited — indexed and paginated for the hearing.
9:415G
Re: Disrepair — 12 Foxglove Way · damp, mould, heating
Dear Mr Edwards,
I write before issuing a claim in the County Court in respect of the property at 12 Foxglove Way, let to me under an AST dated 1 October 2024. You have been on notice of damp in the bedroom, black mould on the bathroom ceiling and a non-working boiler since 14 November 2025, with no substantive remedial works carried out.
This letter is sent under the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims and affords you 20 working days to respond…
Notice
14 Nov
Months
6
Deadline
20 wd
Download Word doc →
The cost of being heard
Solicitors run disrepair on conditional fees.
You keep more on the small-claims track.
Conditional-fee solicitors typically take a slice of your damages plus a success fee — fine on bigger claims, painful on smaller ones. On the small-claims track, running it yourself with CourtPilot keeps the recovery yours.
What a solicitor charges
£1,500–£3,000
Plus their hourly rate after that
Typical solicitor fee or success-fee deduction for a small-claims housing-disrepair case. Most won’t take cases under £2,000 at all.
What CourtPilot charges
£97
One-off · the lot
LBA, schedule of disrepair, particulars, witness statement, MCOL walkthrough, court bundle. One-off — credited against the £9.97 if you sent the letter first.
What changes
Nothing
You’re still the claimant
Same court, same forms, same procedure. You sign and file. We draft, walk you through MCOL, and produce the bundle.
Pricing, in one breath
£9.97 today. £97 if it goes the distance.
Send the letter first. Most disputes settle once a proper LBA lands. If yours doesn’t, the £9.97 comes off the toolkit — same total either way.
01 · Today
£9.97
Letter Before Action
Drafted to the Housing Conditions Pre-Action Protocol, naming the disrepair, the dates of notice and the works required. Many landlords scramble to repair once a proper protocol letter lands.
02 · If they don’t settle
£97
£87.03
Upgrade to the full toolkit
MCOL walkthrough, particulars, schedule of disrepair, witness statement, court bundle, hearing script. £9.97 credited automatically.
03 · Included
Free
Notice timeline builder
Built in. Drop in each notice you gave with dates — we produce the chronology the court and any surveyor will want to see.
The questions people ask
The bits people always ask.
What is Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985?+
Section 11 places a legal duty on landlords to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair, and to maintain installations for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation. This obligation cannot be overridden by the tenancy agreement and applies to most residential tenancies of less than 7 years.
What can I claim compensation for?+
General damages for the inconvenience of living in disrepair (a percentage of the rent over the period), special damages for any items damaged (e.g. clothes ruined by mould), additional out-of-pocket costs (e.g. portable heaters), and a diminution in the rental value of the property during the period of disrepair.
Do I need to report the disrepair in writing?+
Yes. The landlord’s repair obligation only bites once they’re notified of the problem. Always report issues in writing — email or letter — and keep copies. This creates a clear record of when the landlord was made aware and how long they failed to act.
Can I withhold rent because of disrepair?+
Generally no — it puts you in breach of your tenancy and gives the landlord grounds for possession proceedings. Continue paying rent and pursue compensation through the court. There is a narrow common-law right of set-off, but it’s technical and isn’t a DIY remedy.
What if the disrepair is causing health problems?+
Document it with medical evidence — GP letter, photos of mould, dated diary of symptoms. Report the property to your local council’s environmental health team — they have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System to inspect and serve improvement notices on the landlord, which strengthens your civil claim.
Two minutes · No card
Find out what your disrepair claim is worth.
Free case check tells you whether the notice trail stacks up, the likely range of damages, and the exact next step. No card required.