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Westminster City Council complaints, compensation and disrepair claims

Your options if Westminster City Council hasn’t fixed a repair: claiming compensation, complaining, and what the Housing Ombudsman has found.

By Ben Miller, housing disrepair specialistChecked 5 October 2026 · How we checkRepairs and phone numbers: Westminster City Council repairs

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LandlordWestminster City Council

Has Westminster City Council been told about the repair?

Yes, reported and still not fixedCheck if you can claim No, reporting it for the first timeGet Westminster’s repair contacts

Free to check · About 2 minutes

You can complain to Westminster City Council, then the Housing Ombudsman, yourself for free.

Complaint or claim?

Your options if Westminster City Council hasn’t fixed it

Claim compensation

Make a disrepair claim

A law firm on our panel takes it up with Westminster for you. It asks for the repairs to be done and claims compensation, usually worked out as a share of the rent you paid while the problem wasn’t fixed.

Start your claim Free to check, and we don’t charge you. If a solicitor takes your claim on, they work on a no win, no fee basis and must explain their fee in writing before you agree to anything. See fees

Complain

Complain to the council

This can get the council to look at the repair again. If you’re still unhappy, the Housing Ombudsman can order the council to put things right. In its recent decisions about Westminster, it ordered between £700 and £1,800 in compensation.

How to complain

You can do both: a complaint can carry on while a law firm makes your claim.

Compensation

How disrepair compensation is worked out

Courts usually award a share of the rent you paid while the problem wasn’t fixed. Three things decide how much. Westminster’s own target for a routine repair is 28 working days, so a repair left longer than that is already late by its own standard.

  1. 01

    How long

    From when your landlord knew about it to when it was fixed, or today.

  2. 02

    How much of your home

    One room, or the whole home.

  3. 03

    How badly

    How much it affected your daily life and your belongings.

Making a claim

Claiming against Westminster City Council

  1. 01You tell us what’s wrong and when you reported it. About 2 minutes.
  2. 02We introduce you to a law firm on our panel, with your permission.
  3. 03They write to Westminster City Council asking for the repairs and compensation. Under the court rules for housing conditions claims, the council should reply within 20 working days.
  4. 04If your claim succeeds, the work is done and compensation is paid to you.

Free to check, and we don’t charge you. If a solicitor takes your claim on, they work on a no win, no fee basis and must explain their fee in writing before you agree to anything. See fees

How to complain

Complaining to Westminster City Council

Westminster City Council has to follow the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.

  1. Stage 1

    Complain to the council

    Acknowledged within 5 working days, with a reply within 10 working days of that.

  2. Stage 2

    Ask for a review

    Acknowledged within 5 working days, with a reply within 20 working days of that.

  3. Then

    Housing Ombudsman

    Independent. It can order the council to put things right.

From westminster.gov.uk, checked 5 October 2026.

Complained and still waiting? You can start a claim while your complaint is going on.

Start your claim

Westminster’s record

What the regulator and Ombudsman found

Regulator gradeC1

Feb 2025: The regulator found Westminster is meeting the consumer standards, with an improving repairs service, good health and safety compliance and better complaints handling.

Happy with complaints30%

of Westminster tenants were satisfied with how complaints were handled in 2024/25.

Ombudsman68%

of the Ombudsman’s findings about Westminster in 2024/25 were maladministration.

Sources: Regulator of Social Housing judgement, 26 February 2025; Westminster tenant satisfaction measures 2024/25; Housing Ombudsman landlord performance data 2024/25.

Complaints against Westminster

What the Housing Ombudsman decided

Recent cases where the Housing Ombudsman found Westminster City Council at fault over repairs, and the compensation it ordered. Every case is different.

  • How it handled reports of mice and cockroaches in the property. Read the decisionMaladministration
    £995 ordered
  • How it handled repairs to the lift at the resident’s block of flats. Read the decisionMaladministration
    £700 ordered
  • How it handled reports of damp and mould. Read the decisionMaladministration
    £1,800 ordered

Source: Housing Ombudsman decisions.

Has Westminster let you down too? You could claim compensation.

Start your claim

Questions

Westminster City Council complaints and claims: questions

How do I complain to Westminster City Council about repairs?

Online: webforms.westminster.gov.uk. Say what the problem is, when you reported it, and what you want done.

How long does Westminster City Council have to reply to a complaint?

Stage 1: acknowledged within 5 working days, with a reply within 10 working days of that. Stage 2: acknowledged within 5 working days, with a reply within 20 working days of that.

Can I claim compensation from Westminster City Council for damp and mould?

You could, if you reported it and the council didn’t fix it in a reasonable time. A law firm on our panel can take it up with Westminster for you.

Start your claim
Has the Housing Ombudsman found Westminster City Council at fault?

In 2024/25 the Ombudsman found maladministration in 68% of its findings about Westminster. Recent decisions about its repairs are listed above, with the compensation ordered.

Why use Report Repair?

A law firm on our panel takes your claim up with Westminster City Council: it asks for the repairs to be done and claims compensation for you, so you don’t have to deal with the council on your own. It’s free to check, and if your claim succeeds the law firm’s fee comes out of your compensation.

See fees

Not Westminster?

Other landlords in London

All landlords in London

Still waiting for Westminster City Council to fix it?

About 2 minutes. No documents. Free to check.

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