I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information regarding tenant legal disputes and resolution activity within your organisation, specifically relating to legal disrepair claims brought under the Housing Act (and associated legislation), in your capacity as a social housing landlord.

1. Legal Disrepair Claims Wokingham Borough Council does not maintain a “formal register” however we are looking to create one in the future.
Does your organisation maintain a formal register of legal disrepair claims made by tenants or their representatives (e.g. solicitors)? If yes, please provide:
a) The total number of new claims in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25.
• 2022/23: 4
• 2023/24: 6
• 2024/25: 13
b) The total number of claims that were resolved internally without external legal input in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25: Data not held
c) The total number of claims that were resolved through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) e.g. mediation or early-neutral evaluation, in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25: Data not held
d) The total number of claims that required support from legal counsel or litigation in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25: Data not held
e) The total number of open claims/unresolved claims that existed on 1st July 2025: The total number of open/unresolved claims on 1/7/2025 was 11

2. Resolution Timelines
Do you record the time taken to resolve legal disrepair disputes or claims? If yes, please provide:
• The Average (mean) and median number of days from first escalation to closure for all claims in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25.
• The shortest and longest recorded resolution durations (in days) for all claims in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25
Data not currently collected or tracked

3. Financial Costs (Direct Soft Costs)
Do you track financial costs associated with tenant legal disrepair disputes or claims? If yes, please provide:
• The total cost of legal/solicitor fees (£) incurred in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25
• The total cost of mediation fees (£) incurred in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25
Data not currently collected or tracked

4. Staff Resources (Indirect Soft Costs) Do you have staff allocated to tenant dispute management? No specialist staff allocated at present
If yes, please provide:
• How many staff (FTE or part-time) are allocated to tenant dispute management in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25.
• What is the average annual salary (£) for those roles in each financial year from 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25.

5. Dispute Tracking Tools: No
Do you use dedicated software/platforms to manage or track tenant disputes (e.g. housing case management or repairs platforms)? NO If yes, please provide:
• A list of the systems currently in use and their annual licence or subscription cost (£).