Council House Heating: A Tenant's Guide
Housing Repair Help Editorial Team · Reclaim Experts Ltd is a Claims Management Company authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 1030701. You do not have to use a claims management company to pursue a complaint or explore your legal options. You can report repair problems directly to your landlord. If you have an unresolved housing complaint, eligible tenants can also use the Housing Ombudsman Service free of charge: https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/residents/.
Published 28 August 2026. Last reviewed and updated 28 August 2026.
If your council home is cold because the boiler has failed, the radiators never get hot or the heating has been "temporarily" out for weeks, you may be entitled to have it fixed properly and to claim compensation — with no upfront cost. Heating and hot water are not optional extras: your landlord has a legal duty to keep them in working order, and a cold home can quickly lead to damp, mould and serious health problems. Acting early, and in writing, protects both your health and your claim.
Has your council left you without proper heating?
Begin your housing disrepair claim. First, a few questions about your home — then we'll take you through the rest.
Who is your landlord?
Not ready to start your claim?
Who is Housing Repair Help?
The facts about who we are, how we work and what you pay, set out plainly.
Who operates the service
Housing Repair Help is a trading style of Reclaim Experts Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 16058317) with its registered office at Innovation Centre, 49 Oxford Street, Leicester, LE1 5XY.
FCA status
Reclaim Experts Ltd is a Claims Management Company authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 1030701. You can check its entry on the FCA Register. It is also registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (registration number ZB869483).
What our role is
We provide free, plain-English information about housing disrepair, run a free eligibility check based on the details and evidence you provide, and help organise photos, reports and correspondence into a clear case file. Housing Repair Help is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or legal representation.
What happens after you submit an enquiry
Every enquiry is reviewed against the same criteria before it is passed on: whether the disrepair falls within the landlord's repairing obligations, whether the landlord was told about the problem and given a reasonable chance to fix it, the severity of the problem, the quality of the evidence, and how long it has continued. If your case is not suitable we tell you and point you to free routes such as the Housing Ombudsman Service, Citizens Advice and Shelter.
Our relationship with the solicitor
Suitable cases are introduced to specialist housing disrepair solicitors on our panel. Those firms are independent of us and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. They decide whether to take a case on, and any legal advice comes from them once they have been formally instructed and a client care agreement is in place.
How referrals work
When a case is suitable, we pass it to a specialist housing disrepair solicitor on our panel. Reclaim Experts Ltd receives a fee from the solicitor for any successful recommendation. You are never charged for the introduction.
What you pay
You pay nothing to Housing Repair Help. We do not charge tenants a fee for our eligibility check or our introduction service.
What "No Win No Fee" means
The solicitors on our panel may offer to run your claim under a No Win No Fee agreement. Under such an agreement, the solicitor's fee is only payable if your claim succeeds, and is then usually recovered from your compensation. If your claim does not succeed, you do not pay the solicitor a fee for their time. The solicitor will explain the full terms before you sign anything, and you are free to choose a solicitor of your own instead.
Your Landlord's Legal Duty
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires councils and housing associations to keep in repair and proper working order the installations for space heating and heating water. You cannot be contracted out of this, and it applies whether you have a gas boiler, electric storage heaters or a district heating connection.
Boilers & Heaters
The council must repair or replace the heating appliance it installed in your home
Radiators & Pipework
Cold radiators, airlocks and leaking pipework are the landlord's responsibility
Hot Water
A failure of hot water is treated with the same urgency as a heating failure
Annual Gas Safety
Your landlord must carry out a gas safety check every 12 months and give you the record
Excess Cold Hazard
A home that cannot be kept warm can be a Category 1 hazard under the HHSRS
Temporary Heaters
Portable heaters are a stopgap only — they do not discharge the duty to repair
Still waiting for a heating repair?
If you've reported a broken boiler, no hot water or cold radiators and your council hasn't put it right, you may be entitled to repairs and compensation.
Start Your ClaimFCA Regulated Claims Management Company FRN: 1030701
No obligation.
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How Long Should a Heating Repair Take?
| Situation | Typical target |
|---|---|
| Total loss of heating or hot water (winter, vulnerable household) | Attend within 24 hours |
| Total loss of heating or hot water (other times) | 1–3 working days |
| Partial heating failure (some radiators cold) | Around 7 days as an urgent repair |
| Gas leak or suspected carbon monoxide | Immediate — call the gas emergency line on 0800 111 999 |
| Full boiler replacement or system upgrade | Planned works, with temporary heating provided meanwhile |
Timescales vary between landlords, but repeated missed appointments and repairs that keep failing can amount to disrepair even where each individual visit looks reasonable. Read more about landlord repair timescales in England and Wales.
Common Council House Heating Problems
Boiler Breakdowns
A boiler that repeatedly locks out, loses pressure or won't fire up at all
Cold Radiators
Radiators that stay cold at the top or never heat the room properly
Failing Storage Heaters
Older night-storage heaters that run out of heat by early evening
No Hot Water
Intermittent or non-existent hot water from taps and showers
Draughts & Poor Insulation
Single glazing, gaps and missing insulation making a home impossible to heat
Repeat Temporary Fixes
A pattern of patch repairs where the same fault returns within weeks
Why a Cold Home Is a Health Risk
Respiratory Illness
Cold air worsens asthma, COPD and chest infections, especially in children
Damp & Condensation
Unheated rooms cool surfaces, causing condensation and black mould growth
Excess Cold Hazard
Sustained indoor temperatures below 18C can be assessed as a serious HHSRS hazard
Loss of Rooms
Families often shut off bedrooms they can no longer heat, losing use of the home
Higher Energy Bills
Inefficient or broken systems and plug-in heaters push running costs up sharply
Vulnerable Households
Babies, older tenants and those with disabilities are at greatest risk
Cold and damp usually travel together. see our guide on what to do if your landlord ignores damp and mould.
How to Report Broken Heating to the Council
Report It Immediately
Say Who Is Affected
Record Temperatures
Keep Every Job Reference
Use the Formal Complaints Process
Escalate to the Housing Ombudsman
Being left without heating or hot water is one of the most common reasons tenants bring disrepair claims. If your council was told and did not repair the system within a reasonable time, you may be able to make a disrepair claim. Our panel of fully vetted no win, no fee housing disrepair solicitors specialise in this area.
Has your council left you in a cold home?
If you reported broken heating or hot water and the council failed to act, you could be entitled to have the repairs done and to claim compensation. Start your claim — no upfront cost.
Start Your ClaimFCA Regulated Claims Management Company FRN: 1030701
No obligation.
Not ready to start your claim?
Evidence That Strengthens a Claim
Temperature Readings
Dated photos of a thermometer showing how cold the rooms actually are
Repair Job References
Every job number, appointment and missed visit logged by the council
Written Correspondence
Emails and letters showing when you reported the fault and the response
Gas Safety Records
Annual safety certificates, or the absence of them, plus engineer reports
Energy Bills & Receipts
Costs of plug-in heaters, extra electricity and any repairs you paid for
Medical Evidence
GP records linking illness to living in a cold or damp home
When Broken Heating May Lead to a Claim
If the council was notified of a heating or hot water failure and did not repair it within a reasonable time, and you suffered as a result, tenants may be able to seek compensation for:
Loss of use of rooms that could not be heated
Inconvenience and distress from living in a cold home
Higher energy bills and the cost of temporary heaters
Damage to belongings from condensation and mould
Health impacts caused by cold and damp conditions
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Further Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
This article provides general information about housing issues in England and Wales and does not constitute legal advice. Legal services may be provided by independent solicitors where appropriate.