Housing disrepair claims have become a vehicle for inflated legal fees rather than genuine repairs, a legal expert has warned, calling on the government to move such disputes away from the county courts and into tribunals.

Des Taylor, a specialist at Landlord Licensing & Defence, says the current system financially incentivises solicitors to escalate claims and delay repairs, often leaving tenants living in poor conditions while legal costs spiral.

Solicitors benefit while tenants wait

Housing disrepair claims are designed to give tenants a route to compensation when landlords fail to address property defects. However, Taylor argues the balance has shifted, with legal process now prioritised over practical outcomes.

“This was supposed to be about fixing homes and putting things right,” he said. “Instead, it has become a system where the economics of legal costs frequently matter more than the condition of the property or the wellbeing of the tenant.”

Taylor says tenants are sometimes advised by their solicitors not to allow repairs to proceed, on the basis that completed works could weaken the claim. In some cases, tenants are instructed to report every minor issue to the solicitor rather than the managing agent, with each email becoming another billable line item.

“Meanwhile, the tenant has to continue living with the problem, which could be something as hazardous as damp and mould. Not because of the landlord, because of the solicitor.”

Costs dwarf compensation

Under the current framework, claimant solicitors can recover significant legal fees once a claim reaches court, creating an incentive to issue proceedings quickly rather than resolve matters through the pre-action protocol.

Taylor points to cases where tenants receive modest compensation while solicitors recover substantially more. “We are seeing examples where a tenant is paid £4,000, a quarter of that is deducted plus VAT, and then a costs claim of more than £22,000 lands on the landlord’s desk. So the tenant ended up with just £2,800 while the solicitor received £23,000.”

Such figures, he says, are no longer unusual.

Reducing risk through clearer maintenance reporting

One way landlords and letting agents can reduce exposure to this kind of risk is by ensuring there is a clear, auditable and tenant-friendly route for reporting and responding to repairs.

Services such as AskLettie provide a structured alternative to fragmented email chains and informal messaging, allowing tenants to report maintenance issues via WhatsApp while automatically logging every request, response and escalation.

Where an issue cannot be resolved through initial guidance, the system escalates the repair request automatically, ensuring it is formally recorded and actioned. Every interaction is time-stamped and stored as part of a complete audit trail, giving landlords and agents clear evidence of when issues were reported, how they were handled, and what steps were taken.

Call to move claims to tribunal

Taylor is calling for housing disrepair disputes to be transferred from county courts to the First-tier Tribunal, where costs are contained and emphasis is placed on resolving the underlying issues rather than procedural escalation.

“The county court is a blunt and inefficient tool for this kind of dispute,” he said. “The tribunal looks at reality. It considers the condition of the property, the behaviour of both sides, and what needs to happen next.”

The government has launched an open call for evidence on housing disrepair claims, examining whether fee structures unfairly prioritise legal costs over tenant compensation.

Editor’s view
Disrepair claims were meant to protect tenants, but a system that rewards delay over resolution serves no one – except the lawyers. Landlords who engage in good faith deserve a process that does not punish cooperation. Reform cannot come soon enough.

Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 4 February 2026

Sources: Landlord Licensing & Defence
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