Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims

It provides a framework for trying to resolve the problem without going to court.

This guide summarises the protocol. You should get advice if you need it from a solicitor who specialises in housing disrepair.

View the protocol on the Ministry of Justice website.

If you’re considering taking legal action against your landlord to force them to do repairs, you should first tell your landlord about the problem and give them a reasonable time to do the repairs. This will depend on how serious or urgent the problem is.

The court will also expect you to have tried other ways of resolving the dispute, such as following your landlord’s complaints procedure and using alternative dispute resolution.

If you do not try to use these processes or settle the problem out of court, this may affect whether you can recover legal costs, even if your legal claim is successful.

Find out more about how to request a repair.

You should send a letter telling your landlord about your claim, before you send the formal letter of claim. This is particularly important if the repairs are urgent.

You should then send a formal letter of claim to your landlord as soon as possible, including:

• your name
• the address of the property, and your address if it’s different from the property address
• your contact telephone number and when access is available
• details of the defects, including defects outstanding (the protocol has a schedule that you can use)
• a history of the defects including any attempts to rectify them
• details of any notification previously given to the landlord
• the effects of the defects on you (including any injury claim)
• the name of a proposed expert
• the proposed letter of instruction to the expert (there is a standard letter in the protocol)
• details of special damages (compensation to put you back into the position you would have been in if the landlord had not breached the lease)
• any relevant documents that are available
• a request for the landlord to provide all documents relevant to the disrepair

You should also send a copy of the protocol, if you’re not sure whether your landlord will be aware of it.

See the example letter in Annex A to the protocol.

Your landlord should normally respond within 20 working days of receiving the letter of claim. The court will assume that they received it 2 days after the date on the letter.

Their response should:

• disclose any relevant records or documents that you requested
• respond to your proposals about the expert

If they do not respond within 20 working days, you can start legal proceedings as soon as you’re ready.

Either within the landlord’s response or within 20 working days of receiving the expert’s report, the landlord should:

• indicate whether they admit or dispute liability, and give reasons if they dispute liability
• make any allegation about lack of notice or difficulty with access
• send a full schedule of works they plan to do, with expected start and completion dates and a timetable
• make any offer of compensation and costs

Part 7 of the protocol sets out detailed steps for instructing an expert.

It states that you and your landlord should try to agree on using the same expert. However, you can instruct your own expert if the situation is urgent, such as if there’s a risk to health and safety or if it’s necessary to preserve evidence.

If it’s not possible to use the same expert, you and your landlord should arrange a joint inspection by experts for each of you.

Make sure you agree arrangements at the start, such as the expert’s charges and when they’ll provide their report. If you use a single joint expert, you and your landlord will each pay half the costs.

You can find a qualified expert such as a surveyor using the RICS website.

The inspection should start after the period of 20 working days allowed in the letter of claim. It should be done within 20 working days from the date of the landlord’s response to your letter of claim.

If the matter is settled using the protocol on terms that justify bringing it (this means if you would have been awarded costs if the case went to court), the landlord must pay your reasonable costs and expenses.

You can use the Statement of Costs Form N260 to inform the landlord of the costs of the claim.

The amount of costs and expenses you may be able to recover will depend on the value of your claim, and other factors.

For example, if the repairs are valued at £1,000 or less, the claim will usually fall within the small claims track, where cost recovery is very limited. Higher-value claims are usually treated differently.

If you’re unsure, get advice from a solicitor who can explain how cost recovery works, including where a claim has been settled without going to court.