Housing Disrepair Compensation Calculator
Courts usually work compensation out as a share of the rent you paid while your home was in disrepair. Put your own numbers in and see roughly how that adds up.
Rough figures only. This is not a valuation of your claim.
No tool can tell you what your claim is worth. Every case is decided on its own facts and some claims do not succeed. What a claim is actually worth depends on the evidence you have, when you reported it and how your landlord responded, how much of your home was affected and for how long, the effect on your health, and any rent arrears, which can be set off against an award.
Where the percentages come from
These are shares of the rent paid over the affected period, not fixed sums or fixed court tariffs. The calculator uses illustrative percentage ranges to show how compensation may vary depending on the extent of the disrepair. Every claim is assessed on its own facts. This calculator caps its illustration at 100% of the rent for the affected period; this is not a legal maximum.
The full method, and what is not included
How damages are assessed. Where a tenant stays in the property, the loss is loss of comfort and convenience. It can be assessed as a notional reduction in rent, or as a global award cross checked against the rent for the period. A further 10% is added to general damages under Simmons v Castle, and this tool applies it.
Courts vary the percentage over time. In practice a judge often applies different percentages to different periods as a problem gets worse or is partly fixed. This tool applies one band across the whole period, so it is a simplification.
Ruined belongings and extra costs are special damages. They are claimed separately, itemised, and should be supported with receipts, photographs or other evidence where available.
Not included: any personal injury, such as a breathing condition caused or made worse by damp, which is valued separately and has a shorter three year time limit; any rent arrears, which can be set off against an award; and the cost of the repairs themselves, which a court can also order your landlord to carry out.
The Housing Ombudsman is a different route. It can consider complaints about social landlords and may order compensation or other remedies. Whether it can consider a complaint can depend on whether the same issues are, or have been, part of legal proceedings. We can explain which route may be available to you.
This is general information about how the courts approach these claims. It is not legal advice, it is not a valuation, and using this tool does not make us your solicitors.
How compensation is actually worked out
There is no fixed payout for housing disrepair. Compensation is normally made up of two parts. The calculator above works out the first of them.
General damages
This is the loss of enjoyment of your home, and it is what the figure above is showing you. Courts often work it out as a proportion of the rent you paid while the property was in disrepair. The worse the problem, the more of your home it affected and the longer it went on, the higher that proportion tends to be.
Special damages
This is money you have actually lost, and it is claimed on top of the figure above. Ruined furniture, clothing, carpets, bedding and electrical items, higher heating bills, extra laundry, and the cost of staying somewhere else. It is itemised and evidenced rather than estimated, which is why it sits outside the calculator. Keep receipts and photos wherever you can, because this part of a claim stands or falls on evidence.
What the calculator cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether you have a claim. That depends on what your landlord knew, when they knew it, and what they did about it. It cannot account for a personal injury, which is valued separately and has a shorter time limit. It cannot account for rent arrears, which can be set off against an award. And it cannot account for the strength of your evidence, which is usually what decides a case.
For the full picture, read our guide to housing disrepair compensation, or the guide to damp and mould compensation if that is the problem in your home.
Seen a figure that looks worth chasing?
A number on a screen is not a claim. Tell us what has happened and we will tell you honestly whether there is something here.
Check if you can claimThis page is general information, not legal advice. Every claim turns on its own facts. Speak to a qualified solicitor about your circumstances.