Find a Solicitor for your Housing Association Dispute

A complete guide for individuals and residents involved in disputes with housing associations. Common issues include repair obligations, service charge disputes, and rent disputes. Learn about the types of disputes that commonly arise with this type of property, the legal rights of tenants and housing association members, and the steps to resolve these issues. 

We’ve written this for:

• Tenants involved in disputes with their housing association
• Residents seeking legal support for housing-related issues
• Legal professionals advising clients on housing law
• Housing association members or landlords facing tenant complaints

After reading you should understand your options and be aware of the benefits of seeking professional legal assistance from Lawhive for resolving housing association disputes.

Types of housing association disputes

Below, we explore the most common types of housing association disputes.

Maintenance and repairs

Disputes related to the association’s failure to maintain or repair properties adequately often arise. Your housing association must ensure that your home is:

• Safe and free from ‘category 1 hazards’ - these are things that can cause death or pose a serious danger to your health (e.g. by causing lung cancer, 80% burn injuries, loss of limbs, poisoning)
• In a reasonable state of repair
• Equipped with reasonably modern facilities
• Warm enough

Source: Gov.uk

Service charges and rent

Disputes can arise over service charges or rent increases. Tenants can challenge unfair costs by contacting the Housing Ombudsman by filling out an online complaints form, or by contacting them by phone or email:

• info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
• Telephone: 0300 111 3000

Tenancy agreements

As a tenant, you have different rights depending on the type of tenancy agreement you have. When your tenancy terms are not being followed, such as the right to quiet enjoyment you have the right to redress. 

Your tenancy agreement should set out your renewal conditions and the process to follow to renew your tenancy. If your housing association won’t let you renew or doesn’t follow the correct process you could end up in a dispute.  Any breaches of the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement can also cause disputes between tenants and housing associations.

Anti-social behaviour
Housing associations have a responsibility to manage complaints about anti-social behaviour among tenants.

Your housing association has to investigate if you make a complaint about your neighbour because they make noise late at night or engage in other anti-social behaviour such as:

• Vandalism
• Graffiti
• Littering
• Public drunkenness
• Drug use 
• Abuse

Make sure to document any anti-social behaviour. Keep detailed records of incidents including dates, times and what happened.  This information will be useful when your report the issue to your housing association and if you need to escalate the matter to the Housing Ombudsman.

When behaviour is criminal and threatening you should contact the police.

Legal process for resolving housing association disputes

Initial Steps

Depending on the rules that your housing association has set out, you will need to follow these. Start by raising a dispute with the housing association. You will need to gather evidence and review the tenancy agreement.

Raising a formal complaint

You can complain to your landlord following your housing association’s complaints process. 

A complaint can be made to show dissatisfaction about the service, actions taken or lack of action that a housing association takes. 

Your landlord should have a complaints process on their website you can follow. If there isn’t one there, ask your landlord to send it to you. They should have one as they must make it easy for you to complain. 

The Housing Ombudsman Handling Code establishes that landlords must have a 2-stage compliant procedure. This gives tenants the opportunity to let landlords know when they are not happy with the actions made initially, at stage 1.

At stage 2 you should set out:

• Why you were unhappy with the response at stage 1
• What you want the landlord to do to put things right

It’s important to follow these steps before taking further action as you need to show you have given the housing association a chance to address your complaints. It could harm your chances of getting the outcome you want from the housing ombudsman or the courts if you do not.

Involving the housing ombudsman
The Housing Ombudsman plays an important role in resolving disputes between tenants in social housing and housing associations.

When tenants are unhappy with the response of their association and they have completed their landlord’s complaints process, they can make the decision to escalate the matter to the ombudsman. 

To you make a complaint to the ombudsman you will need:

• To check if your landlord is a member of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme by searching for their name
• If yes – you will be asked a series of questions about whether you have complained to your landlord and the actions they’ve taken
• If no – your landlord isn’t registered and they’re a private landlord, you can get help from organisations like Citizens Advice 

When you raise a complaint, the ombudsman will decide whether they can look into your issue and begin and they will start an investigation if they can. They will write to you with their reasons if they decide they can’t.

Taking legal action

When you’re considering taking legal action to resolve your dispute, it is important to seek legal advice as soon as possible. 

If you have low income, or receive benefits you might be eligible for legal aid when your experiencing serious housing issues like eviction, repossession or unsafe living conditions. 

Here is a step-by-step guide to taking legal action if a dispute remains unresolved.

Step 1: Seek legal advice. 

Our experienced housing association solicitors can advise you on your options depending on your circumstances. 

One of the most common complaints about housing associations is unaddressed repair obligations.

You may be able to make a claim for repairs that you have complained to your housing association about that they haven’t addressed. 

They are legally obliged to carry out repairs to your home.

It’s best to seek legal advice early to avoid doubt, wasted time and legal fees for cases where you may be unlikely to win.

Step 2: Gather evidence

If your solicitor advises you that you have a case it’s crucial to start collecting and compiling as much evidence as you can. 

If your housing association has failed to meet their repair and maintenance obligations you can gather the following evidence:

• Photos and videos of damage, disrepair or dangerous living conditions
• Communication with the association – letters, emails, text messages
• Medical evidence – for issues like mould or asbestos that have impacted your health

Step 3: File a claim

You will need to file a claim to take your issue to court. 

However, before taking legal action you should follow the pre-action protocol for the specific action you wish to take, whether it is for disrepair, you’re attempting to fight eviction, discrimination, rent or service charge increases or want your housing association to do something about anti-social behaviour.

If your issue is to do with disrepair, you’ll need to follow the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Disrepair Cases, the Disrepair Protocol. This includes procedures and timelines that you and your landlord must meet.

The protocol encourages you both to attempt to resolve the issue outside the courts via alternative dispute resolution (ADR), such as mediation, before resorting to court.

Risks and considerations

Before taking a dispute further, it’s worth understanding what you’re in for. The length of the dispute process will vary depending upon the nature of the complaint you make. 

The Housing Ombudsman can solve an issue within two months without a formal investigation using their early resolution process. Most cases are solved within 6 months and formal investigations can take up to a year. Their decision will be to you in writing when they have come to a decision. There is potential for delays to decisions when cases are complex. 

Legal costs

As with any legal action, if you decide to take action against your housing association, there are potential risks and costs. 

You may have to pay your housing association’s costs if you go to court and lose. 

There are a variety of legal costs involved:

• Solicitor fees – if a case is complex or prolonged, costs can add up
• ADR costs – if you pursue mediation or another form of ADR, you will have to pay costs
• Court fees – if your case goes to court, you may need to pay court fees, including filing fees, hearing fees and other costs
• Time off work – you may need to take time off work to prepare your case. Additionally, court cases can be stressful which can lead to you needing to take time of work for stress

FAQs

What are my legal rights if my housing association fails to carry out repairs?

In most instances, your housing association is obliged to undertake repairs. You may be entitled to the following:

• Timely repairs
• Compensation if your landlord fails to undertake repairs or takes too long – damage to your belongings, financial loss, or health conditions caused by your housing conditions

Before taking legal action, you should:

• Check your lease to ensure your landlord is responsible for repairs
• Report the issue at least once
• Escalate to the Housing Ombudsman if you’re unhappy with their response
• Allow your landlord reasonable time to fix the issue
• Consider fixing the issue yourself
• Gather evidence to support your case
• Seek legal advice

How do I challenge unfair service charges or rent increases?

If you believe your housing association has increased service charges or rent unreasonably you can challenge their decision in a tribunal. 

For rent increases, you can apply to a tribunal that will assess your rent against other similar properties in the area and what a landlord may be able to charge a new tenant.

For service charges, apply to the First-Tier Tribunal which will consider evidence you present and make a decision.

What can I do if my complaint is not resolved through the Housing Ombudsman?

If your complaint is not resolved by the Housing Ombudsman you can take legal action. 

Why choose Lawhive for housing association disputes?

There are several reasons to turn to the expertise of Lawhive’s property solicitors when looking to resolve housing association disputes. 

Some of the most common include:

• Our legal expertise - our experience in housing law and resolving disputes with housing associations means you’ll get a quick resolution and minimise your legal costs
• Combination of technology and legal expertise - we leverage technology to offer efficient, cost-effective solutions for dispute resolution. Use our platform to exchange documents, chat with your lawyer and contact support 24/7 when you need help
• Client-centric approach: We’re always led by understanding client needs, this helps us provide tailored legal support for your specific housing association dispute

Legal services for housing association disputes

Our experienced property solicitors can help you resolve a dispute with a housing association. 

Knowing your rights is essential when in a dispute with a housing association. It’s also crucial to follow the appropriate steps to resolve disputes with housing associations to get the outcome you deserve.

If you have any doubts, it’s best to act quickly and seek legal support from Lawhive to resolve housing association disputes efficiently. Book a free legal assessment today.

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