Your landlord has duties to undertake repairs if you have told them
about the problem. Sometimes a landlord does not do the repairs;
or disagrees that repairs need to be done;
or disputes who is responsible. We can give
you advice, and help you negotiate to get
the repairs done, or take legal action to get
them done.
Unless the tenancy has a fixed term of more than seven years, the landlord is responsible under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 for repairs to:
- the structure and exterior of the dwellings
- basins, sinks, baths and other sanitary installations in the dwelling and
- heating and hot water installations
The landlord is not generally responsible for repairs arising from damage caused by the tenant, or for rebuilding the property in the case of damage by fire, flood or other inevitable accident. Nor does he or she have to repair anything which the tenant has a right to take away unless, in some circumstances, the damage was caused as a result of the landlord’s failure to carry out his or her repairing obligations.
Safety of gas and electrical appliances
The landlord is required by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 to ensure that all gas appliances are maintained in good order and that an annual safety check is carried out by a registered engineer – that is an engineer who is approved under Regulation 3 of the “Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.” The landlord must keep a record of the safety checks and issue it to the tenant within 28 days of each annual check. The tenant is responsible for maintaining gas appliances which he or she is entitled to take with him or her at the end of the letting.
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires the landlord to ensure the electrical installation is safe when the tenancy begins and that it is maintained in a safe condition throughout that tenancy. One way of ensuring safety is to undertake a regular formal inspection of the installation, looking for any obvious signs of damage such as damaged cables, sockets showing scorch marks, etc.
If the landlord provides any electrical appliances as part of the tenancy the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 require him or her to ensure the appliances are safe when first supplied. Each time the property is re-let, it will be classed as supplying to that tenant for the first time.
Under common law, a tenant must use the property in a responsible way. He or she must take proper care of it. For example, he or she should turn off the water if there is a risk of burst pipes when he or she is going away and unblock the sink when it is clogged up by waste. He or she should not damage the property and should make sure that his or her family and guests do not do so. If they do, he or she may be responsible for the damage. Under the Rent Act 1977, the Housing Act 1985 and the Housing Act 1988, the landlord can seek possession where the tenant or someone living with him or her has damaged the property.
Apart from his or her duty to take care of the property, the tenant generally only has to do repairs if the terms of his or her tenancy agreement say that he or she must. He or she cannot, under the terms of the tenancy agreement, be made to do repairs for which the landlord is by law responsible.
