We are not solicitors. This site is free information only. We do not take claims, we do not pass your details to anyone, and we never ask you to sign anything. Who we are

Complaining about your landlord

There is an order to this, and doing it in the wrong order costs you months. Here is the sequence.

Written by Gavin [SURNAME], Editor Last checked How we check this

If you rent from a council or housing association

  1. Report the repair, in writing

    This starts the Awaab's Law clock if the problem is a hazard. Use our reporting template.

  2. Formal complaint, stage one then stage two

    A formal complaint is a different thing from a repair report, and saying so explicitly matters. Your landlord must handle it in line with the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code.

  3. Housing Ombudsman

    Free, independent, and it can order repairs and compensation. How the Housing Ombudsman works.

  4. Environmental health, in parallel

    You can ask your council's environmental health team to inspect at the same time. If your landlord is the council, this creates an awkward but useful internal tension.

If you rent privately

  1. Report it to your landlord or agent in writing

    Email, so you have a dated copy. Keep everything.

  2. Council environmental health

    This is the strongest free route for private renters and the most overlooked. The council can inspect and serve an improvement notice requiring the work. Search your council's site for "report a problem with a private rented property".

  3. Letting agent redress scheme

    If a letting agent manages the property, they must belong to a government-approved redress scheme. Complain to the agent first, then to their scheme.

You do not need to pay anyone for any of this

Every route on this page is free. Nobody needs to take a percentage of anything to complain on your behalf. If someone contacts you offering to handle it, ask them who regulates them and what they take, in writing, before you agree to anything.