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If there are significant problems with your accommodation you may be able to get some compensation from your Landlord if this has caused you financial loss, significant inconvenience or damage to your property. You must go about trying to get this in a specific way, and you cannot just withhold rent. 

The landlord is responsible for repairs as soon as they are made aware of them (through their own inspection or you telling them). So you should always try and tell them in writing so you have evidence.

What can I get compensation for

Some examples of what you may be able to claim compensation for include:

• A rent refund if you can’t access or live in the property e.g. due to renovations or major disrepair or loss of essential services.
• Some rent back if you can’t use all the rooms e.g. bedroom if significant issues e.g. roof leak or loss of a bathroom due to facilities not working.
• Additional costs incurred if facilities are not working e.g. laundrette if washing machine doesn’t work for considerable period, additional heating costs if boiler doesn’t work.
• Damage to possessions, if you have notified the Landlord of disrepair and taken all steps you can to minimise this.
• Cost of repairs you have paid for in certain circumstances.

What compensation could I claim?

Working out compensation can be tricky. You cannot just ask for all your rent back, unless the property cannot be lived in, and the landlord cannot offer any alternative.  For it to be considered a property cannot be lived in, would normally mean it is an immediate risk of serious injury - it is totally destroyed, structurally unsafe (at risk of collapse), has no sanitation for an extended period, an uncontrolled gas leak, serious fire safety, or cannot be secured in any way. 

Compensation is defined my measurable loss. As an example if you did not have access to your bedroom, but could sleep on the sofa, this would equate to around 50% of the rent. Loss of other rooms could be around 25%.

Other costs may be worked out on the actual cost, for example if you had no heating due to a gas boiler failing, and spent £20 a week more on electricity using portable heaters you could claim the difference between this and the reduction in the gas bill.

If you have needed to get repairs done yourself (see Getting Things Fixed) you could claim the cost of this.

How can I claim compensation?

You will need evidence if you are going to try and claim compensation from your landlord including:

• That the issue you are claiming on is the landlord’s responsibility and you have told your landlord previously about the problems.
• That the landlord has failed to respond in a reasonable time frame.
• Photographs or other independent evidence are useful to give proof of disrepair or damage to your belongings.
• That there has been a significant impact that warrants compensation.

It’s always best to talk about compensation first with your landlord or who you pay rent to (an agent). This will help them to understand the issues you have faced, they may not realise some of the problems if they have contracted work out.

If you have rent arrears (rent you haven’t paid) this could impact on your compensation claim, your landlord may think you are just making a claim because you can’t afford the rent. Where possible, try not to be in arrears when you talk to your landlord.

If you can’t reach an agreement with your landlord write a timeline of all the problems you have had, how you have tried to sort them and drop into LUU Advice with any other evidence you have e.g. photographs/contract. We can help you work out how much you may be able to claim and what the next steps could be.

Can I withhold rent?

Withholding rent to cover compensation you feel you are owed may seem reasonable but this would still put you in rent arrears and the landlord may take steps to recover these. This could include court action and you would need to make a counter-claim against the landlord (responding to the Landlord's claim saying they owe you money). The only partial exception to this is if you have paid for essential work yourself.

Compensation if you have had work done yourself

If you have paid for statutory repairs yourself (see what repairs does my landlord have to do) and followed the correct procedure to arrange these (see Getting Things Fixed) you can withhold rent to cover the costs.  The Landlord may take you to court, but you have a defence against these arrears in this case. Again, this can be complex and we would not recommend taking these steps without getting some advice.

Compensation for loss or damage to belongings

This can also be a little bit complex as you need to show the liability rests with the landlord. If you are paying for a service (i.e. the rent) and you do not get this, the landlord must compensate you if you do not get this, even if it is not directly due to their negligence.  However, sometimes things do break down or unexpected things happen. So if for example a severe storm caused a leak in the roof which damaged your possessions the landlord may not be liable. But if the roof had been leaking for some time and the landlord had not fixed it, and this caused damp which damages you possessions you may be able to hold the landlord liable. But you must have taken steps to try and prevent this - if you continued to store clothes in a damp cupboard knowing it was damp the you may not be able to hold the landlord liable.

Making reasonable claims

It is very important to be reasonable when claiming compensation. It is a fact of life that things break down and sometimes a repair cannot be arranged instantly. For example, if your boiler breaks and a heating engineer cannot attend for two days and takes a further two days to fix it because they need a part it may only serve to affect our relationship with your landlord if you seek excessive compensation. Similarly, seeking to withhold all your rent due to less serious issues may just cause problems.

LUU Help and Support can always advise on how to go about claiming compensation in a reasonable and effective manner.