Right to Repair for London Social Housing Tenants: How the Scheme Works
The Right to Repair scheme gives tenants of social housing in London the right to have certain qualifying repairs carried out within a prescribed number of days, and the right to compensation if the repair is not completed on time. Understanding the scheme helps social housing tenants know when they can claim, and helps housing associations and local authorities understand their obligations.
What the Right to Repair Scheme Covers
The Right to Repair scheme was introduced in England under the Secure Tenants of Local Housing Authorities (Right to Repair) Regulations 1994 and applies to secure tenants of local authority housing and to assured tenants of registered social landlords, which includes most housing associations operating in London. The scheme applies to what are defined as qualifying repairs: small, essential repairs that would cost no more than two hundred and fifty pounds to carry out and that the landlord would be obliged to carry out anyway under its normal repair obligations. The scheme does not create new repair obligations but provides a mechanism by which tenants can enforce the timely completion of qualifying repairs and claim compensation when the prescribed timescale is not met.
The qualifying repairs covered by the scheme are defined by reference to a list of repair categories set out in the Regulations, each with a prescribed completion period. The completion period varies depending on the urgency and nature of the repair. Repairs that represent an immediate risk to health or safety, such as a total loss of space or water heating between October and May, a blocked flue to an open fire or solid fuel burner, a loss of water supply to the entire property, and a blocked or broken external drain, are classified as requiring completion within one working day. A second category of slightly less urgent repairs, including partial loss of space or water heating, an insecure external window, door, or lock, and an unsafe power or lighting socket, must be completed within three working days. Most other qualifying repairs must be completed within seven working days.
How the Compensation Mechanism Works
If a qualifying repair is not carried out within the prescribed period, the tenant has the right to request that the landlord instruct a second contractor to carry out the repair. If the second contractor also fails to complete the repair within a further prescribed period, the tenant becomes entitled to compensation. The compensation is calculated at a daily rate of ten pounds for each working day beyond the second prescribed deadline up to a maximum of fifty pounds. While the maximum compensation of fifty pounds is modest, the scheme provides an important enforcement mechanism for tenants who would otherwise have limited practical recourse against a social landlord that consistently fails to carry out qualifying repairs within the required timeframes.
For London housing associations and local authorities, the Right to Repair scheme creates a practical obligation to have in place a responsive repairs service that can identify qualifying repairs, assign them to the correct urgency category, and ensure that works are instructed and completed within the prescribed periods. The administrative burden of tracking qualifying repair deadlines across a large housing portfolio is significant, and many London social landlords use dedicated property management software to log repair requests, track completion deadlines, and generate alerts when a repair is approaching its deadline.
Qualifying Repairs Involving Plumbing and Heating Systems
In the context of London social housing, the qualifying repairs most frequently arising in practice relate to plumbing and heating systems. A total loss of space heating or water heating between October and May is a one-working-day qualifying repair that requires immediate contractor attendance. In London, where many housing association properties have older boiler systems that are more prone to breakdown, managing this obligation during winter periods requires a contractor who can attend and either repair or temporarily restore heating within the required timeframe. A partial loss of heating, which might arise where one or more radiators are not functioning but the boiler itself is working, falls into the three-working-day category.
A loss of water supply to the entire property, which might result from a burst internal supply pipe or a failed stop valve, is also a one-working-day qualifying repair. Blocked external drains, which are a common issue in London properties during autumn when leaves accumulate in drainage gullies and downpipes, fall into the one-working-day category if they represent a health or safety risk and the three or seven-working-day category for less urgent cases. Prestige Engineers provide responsive plumbing, heating, and drainage repair services to London housing associations and local authority housing departments, with the capacity to attend qualifying repairs within the one-working-day and three-working-day timeframes specified by the Right to Repair scheme. We issue job completion records that document the date and time of attendance and the works carried out, supporting the landlord compliance records for the scheme.