Renters: What To Do When Something Needs Fixing
The boiler stops. There is a patch spreading on the bathroom ceiling. The back door has stopped locking properly. Most tenants do the same thing at this point. They send a text, or mention it in passing, and then wait and feel awkward about chasing it.
There is a better way to handle it, and it is not about being difficult. Tenants who report things properly tend to get them fixed faster, and they are in a far stronger position if it drags on.
What should you do first?
Report it in writing. That is the single most useful habit in renting.
Email, or the portal if your agent has one. Not a phone call you cannot prove, and not a passing comment at a viewing of the flat next door.
Include four things. What is wrong, when you first noticed it, whether anything is unusable or unsafe, and photographs. Then keep a copy.
This is not about building a case. It is about starting a clock and creating a record, and it also genuinely helps the person receiving it. "The boiler is broken" produces a phone call asking questions. "No hot water or heating since Tuesday morning, boiler showing fault code E119, photo attached" produces an engineer.
What is your landlord actually responsible for?
Broadly, the structure and the systems. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, a landlord's repairing obligations cover the structure and exterior of the property, and the installations for the supply of water, gas, electricity and sanitation, along with those for space heating and heating water.
In practical terms, that means the roof, the walls, the windows, the drains, the plumbing, the wiring, the boiler and the radiators. It is not something you can be signed out of by a clause in the tenancy agreement.
And what is down to you?
Being straight about this makes the whole relationship easier, and it makes your genuine reports land with more weight.
Your own belongings and any damage caused by you or your visitors.
The small everyday things, typically light bulbs, fuses in your own appliances, smoke alarm batteries where the tenancy says so, and keeping drains and plugholes clear of what you put down them.
Using the property sensibly. Ventilating it, heating it reasonably, and not blocking airbricks or extractor fans.
Telling the landlord promptly when something goes wrong. A small leak reported in week one is a repair. The same leak reported in month four is a ceiling.
How urgent is urgent?
It helps to sort the problem into one of three buckets before you report it, and to say which you think it is.
Emergency. A gas leak, a burst pipe, no heating in winter for a vulnerable person, exposed live wiring, or anything that makes the property unsafe. If you smell gas, call the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999 first and your landlord second.
Urgent. No hot water, a broken door lock, a leak that is not flooding but is not stopping either. Days, not weeks.
Routine. A dripping tap, a sticking window, a cracked tile. Reasonable to report and reasonable to wait a sensible period for.
Saying which category you think it falls into is a genuinely useful piece of information, and it stops an urgent job sitting behind a routine one in somebody's inbox.
Does your landlord have to give notice to come round?
Yes. For inspections and repairs, a landlord or their contractor needs to give you at least 24 hours' notice in writing and visit at a reasonable time of day.
Genuine emergencies are the exception, for obvious reasons. But nobody should be letting themselves in to look at a dripping tap without telling you.
It is worth being flexible in return. If you are hard to get hold of and unavailable for three weeks, the repair takes three weeks, and that is not really anybody else's fault.
What if it is damp or mould?
Report it early and report it in writing, and do not simply clean it off and hope.
Damp usually has a cause, and the cause is usually the building rather than the person living in it. Ventilation, insulation, a failed seal, a leak, cold bridging. Cleaning the surface treats the symptom and hides the evidence.
You may have seen Awaab's Law mentioned in this context. It is worth being accurate: the strict timescales for investigating damp and mould currently apply to social landlords. The Renters' Rights Act contains the power to extend that kind of duty to private landlords, but the timescales and the start date are to be set out in regulations and have not been confirmed. So it is coming, and it is not here yet for private renting.
That does not weaken your position now. Your landlord's existing repairing obligations, and the council's power to act on serious hazards, both already apply.
What if nothing happens?
Chase in writing, referring to your original report and its date. Keep it factual.
Escalate to the agent if you have been dealing with the landlord directly, or to the landlord if you have been dealing with the agent.
Use the agent's formal complaints procedure, and then their redress scheme. Every letting agent has to belong to one.
Contact your local council's environmental health team about anything that amounts to a serious hazard, particularly damp, cold, electrical danger or disrepair affecting health. They have real powers, and they use them.
Keep your written record throughout. Dates, photographs, what you were told and when.
One more thing is coming that will help. A new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman is being introduced under the Renters' Rights Act, giving tenants a free independent route for complaints a landlord has not resolved. It arrives in the next phase of the reforms, after the new landlord database.
Should you ever stop paying rent until it is fixed?
No. This is the most common and most damaging mistake tenants make.
Withholding rent does not give you a stronger position. It creates arrears, and arrears can put your home at risk regardless of how right you are about the repair. The two issues are treated entirely separately.
Keep paying, keep reporting in writing, and escalate through the routes above.
Renting from us?
If we look after your property, report anything through the usual channel and put it in writing so we have a record. We would always rather hear about something small early than deal with something large later, and no reasonable landlord thinks differently.
Frequently asked questions
How should a tenant report a repair?
In writing, by email or through your agent's portal. Say what is wrong, when you first noticed it, whether anything is unsafe or unusable, and attach photographs. Keep a copy, because it creates a dated record and gets you a faster, better-informed response.
What repairs is a landlord responsible for?
Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the structure and exterior of the property and the installations for water, gas, electricity and sanitation, plus space heating and water heating. A clause in the tenancy agreement cannot remove those obligations.
How much notice must a landlord give before visiting?
At least 24 hours in writing, and the visit should be at a reasonable time of day. Genuine emergencies are the exception.
Does Awaab's Law apply to private landlords yet?
Not yet. The strict damp and mould timescales currently apply to social landlords. The Renters' Rights Act contains the power to extend a similar duty to private landlords, but the timescales and start date are to be set in regulations and have not been confirmed.
Can I withhold rent until a repair is done?
No, and it is the most damaging mistake tenants make. Withholding rent creates arrears that can put your home at risk, and it is treated entirely separately from the repair itself. Keep paying and escalate in writing instead.
If you know someone renting who would find this useful, please share it with them.
