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How long does a housing disrepair claim take?
It depends on your landlord and on the problem. Some claims settle in a few months. Others take a year or more. Here is what affects the timing.
- Most claims settle without going to court
- The legal process sets maximum waiting times for landlords
- You can speed things up by acting quickly on evidence and access
Last updated: 6 October 2026. This page is general information about housing disrepair in England, not legal advice.
A rough guide
We cannot promise a timescale, because every claim is different. As a general idea, a straightforward claim where the landlord replies promptly and agrees to the repairs can settle within several months. If the landlord disputes the cause, an expert is needed, or the claim has to go to court, it can take a year or longer.
Repairs are usually dealt with earlier than compensation, so you should not have to wait for the whole claim to finish before the work is done.
The usual steps
| Step | What happens | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. We review your claim | We go through what you tell us and any photos, and explain your options | Usually within days |
| 2. Letter of claim | Your solicitor writes to your landlord setting out the problems | After we have your signed agreement |
| 3. Landlord responds | The landlord replies and shares their repair records and tenancy documents | Up to 20 working days |
| 4. Inspection and expert report | A surveyor inspects the home and reports on the defects and the repairs needed | Often several weeks |
| 5. Landlord replies to the report | The landlord says whether it accepts the findings and when the work will be done | Up to 20 working days |
| 6. Repairs and compensation | Repair dates are agreed. Compensation is negotiated once the full picture is known | Varies with the work needed |
| 7. Court, if needed | Only if there is no agreement | Often several months |
The time limits in steps 3 and 5 come from the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims. They are maximum times, and landlords often use all of them.
What can slow a claim down
- The landlord is slow to reply or to share its records
- Nobody is home for the surveyor, or access is delayed
- The landlord disputes the cause, for example saying it is condensation rather than a defect
- More than one expert is needed
- Repairs are booked but delayed
- The problem is still going on, so the full period cannot be assessed yet
How you can help keep it moving
- Answer calls and messages from your solicitor quickly
- Give access for inspections and repairs on the dates agreed
- Send photos, messages and receipts as soon as you have them
- Keep your problem diary up to date
- Tell us at once if anything changes, such as new damage or a new landlord
Questions
Do I have to wait for the claim to finish before the repairs are done?
No. Repairs are often agreed during the claim, and your solicitor will press for them to be done without waiting for compensation to be settled.
Will I have to go to court?
Most claims settle without a court hearing. Court is only used if the landlord will not agree.
Can I make it quicker?
You can help by sending evidence early and giving access when it is needed. We cannot make a landlord reply faster than the legal process allows.
Ready to find out where you stand?
It takes about two minutes and there is no obligation.
Check my claimHow we are paid
- To start: you pay nothing.
- If you win: your landlord usually pays most of our costs. Any contribution you make, our success fee, is capped at 25% of the damages you are awarded. The insurance premium (£425 plus Insurance Premium Tax, £476.00 in total) is payable only if you win and comes out of your compensation.
- If you do not win: you do not pay our charges, provided you have kept to your agreement with us. Cover can be lost in some situations, which the full guide explains.
- Cooling-off: 14 days to cancel after signing, without charge.
See the full costs detail
Your conditional fee agreement
A conditional fee agreement, or CFA, is the formal name for our funding arrangement with you. Our fees are payable only if your claim succeeds. If it does not, you do not pay our charges for the work done on your case.
If you win, we normally recover our legal costs from your landlord. When the landlord does not pay all of them, we may charge a success fee to cover the difference. The success fee is a percentage of our basic charges, and it can never be more than 25% of the damages you are awarded. You will see the exact figure in writing before you sign.
Your insurance policy
To protect you if the claim fails, we arrange an after-the-event (ATE) insurance policy for you. The policy is provided by an insurer that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We give you the insurer's name and its FCA number in your written agreement before you sign. It is designed to cover your opponent's legal costs, if a court orders you to pay them, and your own disbursements, such as court fees and expert reports, if the claim does not succeed.
The premium is a flat £425 plus Insurance Premium Tax (IPT), which comes to £476.00 at the current 12% rate. It is one fixed price and is not charged in stages. You only pay it if you win, and it is taken from your compensation.
If you win
Most of your legal costs are paid by your landlord. The insurance premium (£476.00 in total) and any success fee, up to the 25% cap, are deducted from your compensation. You keep the rest. We show you the expected deductions in writing before your case ends.
If you lose
If your claim does not succeed and you have kept to your agreement with us, you do not pay our charges, and your insurance is designed to cover the other side's costs and the expenses it insures. That protection can be lost, and in a few situations you may have to pay our charges, as listed below.
What is included
We handle your claim from your first review through to settlement or a court decision, including letters to your landlord, inspections and negotiations. How long it takes depends on the case, and we keep you updated.
Cooling-off
You have 14 days after signing to cancel without charge. If you cancel, your insurance ends too.
When your insurance cover may not apply
- You give us untrue or misleading information about your claim
- You stop co-operating with us, or do not follow our reasonable advice. In this case you may have to pay our charges
- You turn down a reasonable settlement offer against our advice and then recover less at trial
- You instructed another firm of solicitors on this claim before signing with us and did not tell us. In this case you may have to pay our charges
- You instruct another firm of solicitors on this claim after signing with us. In this case you may have to pay our charges
- You cancel the agreement. You can cancel without charge within the 14-day cooling-off period, but your insurance ends when you do
If any of these happen, you could become responsible for costs your insurance would otherwise have covered, and in some cases for our charges.
We go through all of this with you in writing before you sign anything. Read the full guide on our How our fees work page.
We explain all costs in writing before you sign anything.
Complaints
We want to put things right. If you are unhappy with our service, tell us at Enquiries@disrepairclaimshub.co.uk, on 01772 590900 or in writing to Muirfield Building, 5 Fairways Office Park, Pittman Way, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9LF. Please mark your message "Complaint".
What happens next
- We acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days
- We look into it fairly and tell you what we found
- We aim to send you our full written response within 8 weeks
- If you are still unhappy, you can take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, normally within six months of our final written response
You can also report concerns about our conduct to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Privacy notice
Equitas Solicitors Ltd, trading as Disrepair Claims Hub, is the data controller for the information you give us through this website. Our address is Muirfield Building, 5 Fairways Office Park, Pittman Way, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9LF. You can contact us at Enquiries@disrepairclaimshub.co.uk.
What we collect and why
We collect what you enter on our enquiry form: your name, phone number and email address, who your landlord is, the problems with your home, whether and when you reported them, your preferred call time and language, and any description, photos or videos you add. We also record technical information such as the page you came from, the advert or link you used, and your IP address. We use this to assess your enquiry, contact you, give you information about your possible claim and, if you instruct us, act for you. Photos and videos can show your home and may contain location data, and descriptions may include health information. We use them only to assess and run your claim.
Our legal basis
We use your information to take steps you ask us to take before entering a contract with you, because it is in our legitimate interests to respond to enquiries and run our business, and to meet our legal and regulatory duties. Where you give us health information, we use it because it is needed to establish, bring or defend legal claims. We only send you news and offers if you tick the optional box, and you can withdraw that consent at any time.
Who we share it with
We share information only where needed: with the providers who help us run this website and our systems (such as hosting, email and IT providers), insurers (including the after-the-event insurer for your claim), experts and surveyors, your landlord and their representatives, the court, and regulators or professional advisers where the law or our regulator requires. We do not sell your information.
How long we keep it
If you do not go on to instruct us, we delete your enquiry details and any files you uploaded within 12 months. If you become a client, we keep your file for as long as the law and our regulator require, which is usually at least six years after it closes.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete your information, restrict or object to how we use it, or ask for a copy. Contact us at Enquiries@disrepairclaimshub.co.uk. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
If you contact us through WhatsApp, WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy apply to that message. Please do not send sensitive documents until we have spoken.
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Who we are
We are a law firm, not a claims management company. Disrepair Claims Hub is a trading style of Equitas Solicitors Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 459787. Company number 5871121. VAT registration number GB 866 7991 49. Registered office: Muirfield Building, 5 Fairways Office Park, Pittman Way, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9LF. Details of our professional indemnity insurance, including the insurer and territorial coverage, are available on request.