Evidence

This content applies to England only.

Housing laws vary between England and Scotland. Get advice relating to Scotland

If you are involved in a court case, you need to gather and look after your evidence. You will have to give all evidence you intend to use to the other party in the case, so that both sides have the chance to examine all evidence before the court hearing.

Remember, if you are taking a case to court, your solicitor or adviser can help you to prepare your evidence in time for any deadlines. Use our directory or the Legal Adviser Finder to find help in your local area.

What counts as evidence?

Evidence is what you need to prove your case. You can have the best case in the world, but if you can’t prove it, you will lose. Gathering evidence can be difficult, so get advice if you are unsure what you should do.

Evidence for housing cases might include:

witness evidence (ie what you or other people have seen or heard)
documentary evidence (ie letters, emails or other correspondence, written agreements, statements, receipts, other proof of payments or purchases, photographs)
real evidence (ie objects that prove what happened, such as damaged belongings)
expert evidence (ie an expert opinion about some technical part of your case, for example a medical report).

How do I gather evidence?

Witness evidence

You are probably your main witness, because you should be able to tell the court most of what happened. For things you didn’t see or hear yourself, or to confirm what happened, you will need other people. While it is better to have evidence from an independent person, friends and neighbours may prove more reliable if you need to ask them to come to court. Don’t tell your witnesses what to write, and you can’t pay them (except for covering any expenses they have as part of coming to court hearings).

Ask witnesses to write down what they saw and heard, and make sure they sign and date it. This is a simple witness statement, and it is better typed than written. Remember to prepare a witness statement yourself. Do this as early on as possible, because you might forget important facts. Try to include names, dates and times in statements if you can remember these. Leave out unimportant information, personal criticism and irrelevant details.

Documentary evidence

You need to decide what is relevant, and what is not. Put anything that doesn’t seem relevant to one side, but don’t throw it away unless you are sure that it has nothing to do with your case. If there are gaps in your evidence, you may need to get copies of missing documents. For example, if you don’t have your tenancy agreement, you should ask your landlord for a copy before starting a court case.

Keep important documents in tidy files and in a sensible order. Keep any letters with advice about your case separately. Make sure that photographs are dated, and remember that camera clocks are often inaccurate. Print out emails, and make sure they show the correct date.

Recordings and videos can be useful, but are often not as useful as people think. Make sure that they are marked with the date and where they were recorded.

Real evidence

Your home may itself be evidence in your case. If you are thinking about a case for damage to your home, don’t carry out repairs or improvements unless you have a good record of the damage.

You should keep things that have been damaged, at least until the damage can be recorded. Ideally, recording of damage means a report supported by photographs prepared by, for example, a surveyor or loss adjuster. But in a simple and low value case, you could take photographs and write a description.

Expert evidence

Usually, you should discuss your case with an adviser or solicitor before you get expert evidence. But if you already have an expert report that helps your case, look after it. Most experts will charge for their services, so it is best to check that you have a good case before you arrange anything.

When do I have to show my evidence?

You will have to show the other side your evidence long before your case gets to a trial. This is called ‘disclosure’. It is an important part of civil justice that the parties to a dispute should know each other’s case and should not be surprised at trial.

In most cases, you and the other party make lists of all of evidence and then swap lists. You and the other party can ask for copies of the items on the other side's list. The lists must normally include all relevant documents, even if they damage your case, unless there is an exemption that applies.

If a court case seems likely, you should make sure that you have shown enough of your documentary evidence to explain your case, and to show its strength. Send photocopies of important documents but not originals, and keep a note of what you have sent and when. If the other party wants to inspect real evidence, for example to inspect your home, you should allow it – but do not allow them to remove any evidence. If you have helpful expert evidence, you should send a copy.

Are any 'pre-action protocols' involved?

It is essential to remember that there may be special steps that you must follow before starting the case. Pre-action protocols set out the procedures and timetables that must be followed. They apply to certain types of cases, including: