Spelthorne Borough Council

Providing Quality Services to the People of
Ashford, Laleham, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell & Sunbury

Private rented housing complaints

Homes should provide a safe and healthy environment for residents and visitors. Both tenants and landlords have responsibilities to ensure that this is the case.

The attached leaflet “Repairs: A Guide for landlords and tenants” is a useful guide to determine who has the responsibility for repairs

Talk to your landlord

As a tenant, if you feel that your property is not safe or healthy and your landlord has the responsibility to put this right, then you should speak to your landlord bringing the matters to their attention without delay.

At Spelthorne Borough Council we encourage tenants and landlords to build up a good relationship so that any hazards and necessary repairs are reported and carried out accordingly.

On occasions the landlord may ignore a tenants request to carry out necessary repairs. If this is the case we should be able to offer help and advice.

Type of complaints we can look into

Some of the examples of the types of issues we deal with are; broken boiler; excess cold; damp and mould; leaking roof; uneven flooring; property disrepair.

Under the Housing Act 2004, Spelthorne Borough Council can deal with your private sector housing complaint by:

formally writing to all parties that have an interest in the property to invite them to accompany us to the property whilst an inspection and survey is carried out
on completion of the survey we will determine the severity of the conditions within the home by rating the risk
if the risk is the highest category (Category 1) we have a duty to take action. For further details view our HHSRS page

What actions can we take?

Serve an improvement notice requiring remedial works (the most likely action)
Serve a hazard awareness notice
Make a prohibition order, which closes the whole or part of a dwelling or restricts the number of permitted occupants
Take emergency remedial action
Make an emergency prohibition order
Make a demolition order
Include the property in a clearance area

All cases can vary considerably and this information is provided for guidance only. If you are in doubt or you require any further information please contact the Environmental Health Domestic Team on 01784 446251 environmental.health.domestic@spelthorne.gov.uk

Further information

Repairs: A Guide for landlords and tenants (Pdf 199kb) is a useful guide to determine who has the responsibility for repairs
www.direct.gov.uk/ (external website)

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