Housing Rights
Our housing solicitors will take the time to understand your situation and deal with your case sympathetically and will fight on your behalf to get you the best outcome possible.
Our specialist and dedicated team of housing rights solicitors are passionate about defending the rights of those with housing issues and who require housing law advice. Our experienced team of housing solicitors can advise you on all aspects of housing rights including bringing disrepair claims, defending possession proceedings, homelessness reviews and appeals, unlawful evictions and the lawful allocation of social housing. Our team of housing solicitors will deal with your case sympathetically and will fight on your behalf to get the best outcome possible for you.
If your Landlord has received notice of the disrepair and has failed to carry out the repairs within a reasonable period of time, then you have a potential claim for disrepair against them.
Our Housing team has been ranked in Band 1 in the Chambers & Partners 2025 legal directory. The team were praised for their “outstanding level of expertise, the client service and second to none care.”
“This is one of the leading teams of solicitors in social housing law in England. They regularly take on high-profile and challenging cases in homelessness, allocation of social housing, possession, and disrepair claims.” Legal 500, 2025
We’re proud to be able to help hundreds of people each year to solve their disrepair and other housing problems and achieve swift outcomes.
Our expert housing solicitors are ready to help
We have a dedicated team of specialist housing solicitors in London. We are independently ranked as some of the best housing solicitors in the UK due to the quality of our work and are here to help you with issues such as housing disrepair, unlawful evictions, homelessness appeals and defending possession claims.
Our solicitors will take the time to understand your situation and deal with your case sympathetically and will fight on your behalf to get you the best outcome possible.
Our Housing legal team has been ranked in Band 1 in the Chambers UK 2025 legal directory. The team were praised for their “outstanding level of expertise, the client service and second to none care.”
“This is one of the leading teams of solicitors in social housing law in England. They regularly take on high-profile and challenging cases in homelessness, allocation of social housing, possession, and disrepair claims.” – Legal 500, 2025
Why choose Hodge Jones & Allen for help with your housing rights issue?
The firm has over 47 years’ experience in asserting clients’ rights, and we deal with a wide range of housing issues including housing disrepair, possession, homelessness, unlawful eviction and anti-social behaviour injunctions.
We have a proven track record of holding housing providers to account and have consolidated our position as one of the UK’s largest social housing law teams.
Our housing solicitors are committed to social justice and where eligible, we are able to fund work through legal aid.
Housing legal advice services
Our specialist housing solicitors have expertise in a broad range of housing legal matters including:
Housing Disrepair Claims
We understand how disruptive disrepair in your home can be, especially if your landlord has refused to sort repairs or has failed to keep the house in repair. Our team of housing disrepair specialists will endeavour to get you quick results wherever possible to get your landlord to complete repairs to your home which fall within their responsibility.
Defending Possession Proceedings
Our compassionate and expert team are well known for representing tenants facing claims for possession of their homes. We can also help if you own your home and your mortgage lender seeks possession. At Hodge Jones & Allen, we understand how difficult and stressful this situation can be and will fight to protect your rights and obtain the best outcome possible for you.
Unlawful Evictions
If you are evicted from your home without a court order, or are being harassed or threatened by your landlord we can assist you with obtaining an injunction against your landlord to re-permit you access to the property.
Homelessness Reviews & Appeals
We understand that getting the help you need can be difficult if you are homeless or threatened with homelessness. Our housing solicitors are recognised leaders in this field will approach your case sensitively and provide you with clear advice to help you understand your position.
How do I make a housing disrepair claim?
Speak to your landlord before pursuing a claim. If they don’t respond in a reasonable time, you may have a housing disrepair claim.
Contact our specialist housing solicitors for a free initial assessment and to discuss your funding options.
Our team will assess your case for legal merits and then if there is a legal case, we will allocate it to one of our experienced housing solicitors to deal with your matter.
We’ll talk through your options and provide you with the best approach for a successful solution.
No Win No Fee housing claims
One funding option we can discuss with you is a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) more commonly known as ‘No Win No Fee’. This allows you to bring a disrepair housing claim, without the need to pay any solicitors’ fees upfront.
Our expert housing legal team will assess your claim and check if you’re eligible for this funding option. If you want to know more about funding your case with a No Win No Fee agreement, please speak with one of our specialist housing solicitors.
"My solicitor was very helpful, always provided a prompt response to email or telephone calls. I would definitely recommend to anyone who needs support."
Why choose Hodge Jones & Allen solicitors?
Our specialist housing solicitors will handle your case with expertise, discretion and the utmost sensitivity. We’re entirely committed to achieving the best result for all our clients, supporting them through the process and will work hard to get justice for you.
We are proud to be able to assist people with a wide range of needs, circumstances and from all backgrounds. Our primary objective is to always achieve the best possible results for our clients.
We are independently ranked as a Band 1 firm for housing law by Chambers & Partners UK.
Our expert housing solicitors have an excellent track record for successfully challenging authorities and resolving claims quickly with a vast experience dealing with an array of housing legal claims.
"The team at HJA showed empathy and the highest level of professionalism to my situation, and turned around a possible injustice."
"The lawyers are very friendly and quick to reply. They solved my case really quickly and kept me informed of everything along the way."
Featured Cases
Case Study I
Over the course of two months, we acted for a homeowner whose neighbour was excessively noisy. Our housing solicitors successfully resolved the issue by negotiating with the landlord of that neighbour, who served notice on them. Our housing solicitors were able to do this via mediation, which provided our client with a cost-effective alternative to entering protracted litigation.
Case Study II
We helped a tenant when a local authority started eviction proceedings against them following noise complaints about their family and their pet dogs. The council also applied for an injunction to prevent our client from engaging in anti-social behaviour and from keeping any pets in her home. Following representations from our housing solicitors, the council allowed our client to remain in her home and also keep one of her dogs. The injunction was also dropped, which removed the threat of a fine or prison sentence. The judge praised our handling of the case and spared our client the distress of going to court and giving evidence.
Case Study III
We settled a claim for Judicial Review, on behalf of a mother whose children have significant disabilities, mental health conditions and learning difficulties and were in unsuitable housing. The mother had submitted a wealth of medical evidence supporting the urgent need for her children to be moved for their health and welfare, but was consistently placed in incorrect banding under the allocations policy, meaning she didn’t have enough priority to be allocated a new, suitable home. We threatened a discrimination claim and negotiated with the other side, as a result the client was placed into the top band and moved into a new home, which she and the children are very happy with, within two months.
Case Study IV
Client wins case to have landlord pay compensation and costs for broken intercom needed for medical reasons.
The client suffered from numerous, life-threatening medical conditions. He moved into a flat in a tower block where the door entry intercom had been removed, following a fire. The landlord had told the client that the door entry intercom was an obsolete system and could not be replaced, and that they were in the process of getting a new system. This had been the response for over a year and a half.
This meant that the client was unable to open the door to the block from his flat. In this particular case that had severe consequences, as it meant that the client was unable to open the door to the block to let emergency medical services in. He suffered a number of heart attacks and was at risk of death if unable to get emergency medical attention. He was reliant on passers-by to open the door to the block to let paramedics in.
Using the housing disrepair pre-action protocol we wrote to the landlord and arranged an urgent expert inspection of the intercom and wiring. Following this, the landlord managed to source a new handset and repair the electrical wiring which had been damaged by a fire before our client moved in. The client now has a working intercom and is able to let the paramedics in himself when he needs urgent medical attention. The landlord also agreed to pay compensation and costs.
Will I be evicted if my landlord takes me to court?
This will depend on your tenancy agreement and the reason that the landlord is seeking possession. If you have an assured or secure tenancy, the court will not order possession unless grounds to do so have been proved and in many cases, only if it reasonable to do so.
Although private tenants have less secure tenancies, there are often valid defences which can be put forward to avoid being evicted. We can advise you further in this regard.
What can Ido about poor conditions in a property?
All landlords, including local authorities, housing associations and private landlords, have a legal duty to maintain their property in an adequate state of repair and to ensure they’re fit for human habitation.
They must also ensure that any defects in the property don’t pose a threat to the safety of tenants. If the property’s condition is unacceptable then we can help advise you on the best course of action.
This might include applying for a court order requiring the council or landlord to put things right. The court can also award you compensation where repairs have been delayed for no good reason and impose fines on landlords who don’t maintain their property correctly.
What is the cost for a housing claim?
Housing legal claims can differ in cost. Our expert housing solicitors will clearly set out all your funding options as soon as we know the details of your case. We will never incur costs on your behalf without your full agreement and knowledge.
If you’re not entitled to public funding, we can discuss other ways of funding your case, including private arrangements or a ‘Conditional Fee Arrangement’, (often described as ‘no win, no fee’).
