I am a Tenant or Owner Occupier and Want to Make a Complaint About Disrepair to a Property

What should I do first if I am a tenant ?

First you need to think carefully about whether you wish to take action or not. In particular, you must consider whether your landlord is likely to try to evict you rather than do the work. Unfortunately, most private tenants have limited protection from eviction. If you think this may happen you must contact Tameside Housing Advice on 0161 331 2700 for further advice.

If you live in a house in multiple occupation (a HMO) you will be able to report any problem to the Housing Standards Service in confidence – we do not have to say who has contacted us.

Secondly, you should report any problems to your Landlord in writing. We’ve produced a sample letter Link to Adobe PDF file that you can adapt to suit your particular need. You are advised to request your Landlord to acknowledge receipt of the letter but you must allow a reasonable time for your Landlord to fix the problem. The time needed will be dependent on the urgency of the problem; however your Landlord should be able to resolve most repairs within 28 days.

If the Landlord does nothing, you could send a second letter, warning that you will contact the Housing Standards Service at Tameside MBC if the repairs are not done by a certain deadline.

Send all written correspondence through recorded delivery; there is a cost to this but it provides the proof of delivery needed by us. We will need a copy of the letter you sent to the Landlord and we will also need the recorded ‘Royal Mail track and trace’ reference number if we decide to take legal action.

Note: Any damage to plasterwork, kitchen cupboards, doors and broken windows, for example, cannot be treated as a disrepair issue unless it was done in a criminal act and a crime reference number from the police must be supplied.

I own my own house and the neighbouring property's disrepair issues are affecting mine.

If you are an owner occupier you and the level of disrepair is not of an urgent matter as highlighted below, you are encouraged to write a letter and send recorded delivery to the owner of the property. State how the disrepair is affecting you and your property. If nothing is done to rectify the situation within 28 days contact Tameside Housing Standards Service.

Important - You must supply us with the recorded delivery track & trace number and a copy of the letter you sent to the landlord/neighbour. We need these to proceed with your complaint, it is part of the legal process.

Gas Safety

A gas safety certificate must be given to you at the start of your tenancy in the property. If you haven't received a gas safety certificate send a letter to your landlord before contacting the relevant authorities, we have produced a sample letter Link to Adobe PDF file for you ,send it recorded delivery, it will help with the legal process. The gas safety certificate must be supplied by a registered Gas Safe Engineer. If you are unsure that he/she is registered you can check their details on the Gas Safe website..

If you have not received a certificate please contact Gas Safe or the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Link to External Website . The certificate should be given to you by your landlord every 12 months and is produced by a registered Gas Safe Engineer who comes and checks your gas appliances.

As from 1 of October 2008 Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are mandatory and required by law for all new tenancies after said date. If you have not received an EPC ask your landlord to produce one. The EPC should be produced every 10 years and there is no legal minimum or maximum efficiency level.

In brief, you must follow the process for all complaints -

Write a letter and send it recorded delivery to your landlord /neighbour. We must have the recorded delivery track and trace number and a copy of the letter before we proceed. It is a part of the legal process.
We will write to you and your landlord/neighbour stating that we have registered your complaint and tell your landlord / neighbour that we have have received a complaint and to find a resolution to the items of disrepair.
If no action has been taken by your landlord/neighbour then you need to contact us after 28 days.

In urgent cases

As a matter of urgency we will act in the following circumstances but you must contact your landlord/neighbour first for a solution:

No hot water and heating (time of the year dependant)
Imminent structural collapse
Gas leaks or phone National Grid on 0800 111 999
Serious structural storm damage / Snow damage
Blocked drains phone Tameside MBC or blocked common drains (please note the rules regarding common/ private drains changed in October 2011) phone United Utilities on 0845 746 2200
No Water - phone United Utilities on 0845 746 2200
No electricity (Interruptions in supply not applicable)
No Gas (Interruptions in supply not applicable)
Unusable toilet (If there is only one in the property)
Burst water pipes

If any of these cases are applicable phone your landlord immediately first. If your landlord does not act as a matter of urgency please phone 0161 342 2558 or send a message to Housing Services.

I have written to my landlord / neighbour and he has done nothing, what should I do?

If all else fails you can make a complaint regarding to disrepair issues phone 0161 342 2558 or alternatively use Tameside Council’s online service.

The person who holds the tenancy agreement must be the person who makes the complaint

The information we require from you is:

Your name and telephone number
The address of the property in question
The landlord/neighbour or managing agents name
The telephone and address of your landlord/ neighbour
A high level of detail of the disrepair issues within the property
The track and trace number for recorded delivery to your landlord
A valid tenancy agreement
A copy of the letter sent to your landlord

You will be advised to make the complaint in writing to your landlord/neighbour if you have not already done so. If you have written a letter you will be asked for your Royal Mail ‘track and trace’ reference number and to send a copy of the letter to us.

What will be done next?

The housing standards team will assess the disrepair and send you and your landlord/neighbour a letter and invite your landlord/neighbour to telephone us about the situation and what they are intending to do about the disrepair. If the timescale of works is not satisfactory to us then we will consider serving a legal notice.

If we fail to hear from you within one month from the date of our letter we will assume that both parties are satisfied with the outcome and we will close the case.

The Landlord/ Neighbour has not been in contact with you and the Housing Standards Team for resolution

In this instance we will have no option other than to deal with the complaint in a formal manner and will issue a notice of entry under the Housing Act 2004 and inspect the property. Upon inspection a Housing Standards Officer will conduct a full assessment of the property on the 29 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System Link to External Website Adobe Acrobat Document as required by the Housing Act 2004.

Potentially, a legal notice could be served requiring the Landlord/Neighbour to carry out the works. If a notice is served on the landlord/ neighbour a charge will be levied at a cost of £350 (The cost is currently under review)

These are the problems most commonly assessed by the Housing Standards Service:

Dampness and mould growth
Dangerous or decaying stairs
Blocked drains
Heating and hot water
Crowding and Space
Entry by intruders
Lighting
Domestic Hygiene, pest and refuse
Falls on level surfaces
Falls on stairs
Electrical Hazards
Fire
Structural Collapse and falling elements
Food safety

Once the disrepair issues have been assessed the Landlord/Neighbour will be given 28 days to complete the repairs and eradicate the hazards. If the Landlord/Neighbour fails to comply then Tameside MBC will serve a notice requiring the Landlord/Neighbour to complete the works dependent on the category of the hazards. This notice will be charged to the Landlord/Neighbour at a cost of £350.

If the landlord/Neighbour continues to fail to carry out the repairs as indicated then the Council can carry out works in ‘default’. This means that we will arrange for a contractor to carry out the repairs and then we will invoice the Landlord/Neighbour for the cost of the works plus an administration fee.

What if I contact Housing Standards 3 months from the date of your letter ?

The procedure will be followed again and a new case will be opened. We will not re-open the original case as it will have been considered closed due to you not informing us the work was not done.

Useful Documents/Links

Useful Contacts

Tameside Housing Advice - 0161 331 2700
Tameside Housing Services - 0161 342 2559
National Grid (Gas) - 0800 111 999
United Utilities - 0845 746 2200
Gas Safe - 0800 408 5500