Contents

Introduction

The Housing Advice Unit at Waltham Forest Housing Services gives free advice on housing matters to all residents within the borough.

If you are experiencing problems you should get advice. You can do this by contacting the Housing Advice Unit, Citizens Advice Bureau or a solicitor specialising in housing.

When you seek advice, you should take any documentation that is relevant to your case. For example, your original tenancy agreement, court papers, correspondence from your landlord, housing benefit, or solicitor. Even if you do not have any papers, you should still get advice.

When reading this information, it is important to remember that the laws concerning housing and welfare rights are very complicated. The information here cannot explain everything; it is intended to provide a guide to enable you to exercise your rights.

If you pay rent to a private landlord, this web page gives some general advice about landlords and tenants’ responsibilities for repairs.

What is a repair?

Repairs are works that are necessary to keep the property in good condition. Repairs and improvements are not the same. Repairs are mending something which is damaged, for example, reglazing a broken window. Improvements are alterations to upgrade the property, for example, putting in a shower where there was not one there before.

Who is responsible for repairs?

In most cases, private landlords are legally responsible for repairing the homes of their tenants. There are some exceptions though, so it is important for you to get advice on your tenancy before complaining about repairs.

Some landlords may try and get their tenants to leave rather than put disrepair right. They may try and do this by deliberately allowing your property to run down to put pressure on you to move out, or may try to evict you without going through a court.

If you feel that your landlord is harassing or has threatened you, you should contact the Tenancy Relations Officer on 020 8496 3000 (via Waltham Forest Direct). They will contact your landlord and explain the legal position regarding harassment and illegal evictions. Their address is at the end of this web page.

To decide who has to carry out repairs, it is best to start with the tenancy agreement which will say whether it is the landlord’s or tenant’s responsibility to put things right. Where there is no written agreement, what you agreed verbally with the landlord when you moved in is what is important.

Whether you have a written agreement or not, the law says there are some repairs landlords always have to do.

Your landlord has to repair:

  • The structure (roof, walls, floors and windows) of your home
  • The outside of your home, for example, the gutters, drains and pipes
  • Installations for heating water and space heating
  • Baths, sinks, toilets and basins

If your tenancy started before 15 January 1989, the landlord has to repair these things when they are in your own room or flat; if your tenancy began after 15 January 1989, the landlord will also be responsible for repairs to the rooms and corridors you share with other people.

There are certain other types of tenancy that attract different levels of responsibility in terms of disrepair from your landlord. These include tenancies that commenced before October 1961 and business lets. In these cases, the landlord’s responsibilities are normally stated in the tenancy agreement, however, you should get advice before you take any action.

Telling your landlord about disrepair

You have to tell your landlord about the disrepairs in your house before they have a legal duty to put them right.

You can do this by:

  • Writing to your landlord listing the repairs that need to be done, and keeping a copy
  • Writing to the landlord’s agents/builders
  • Having in your possession a receipt of repair notices served by the Local Authority

You should keep copies of all papers safe because you may need to produce them later.

If your landlord has not been told about any problems and you are injured or your property is damaged, they will not have to compensate you.

You should always get advice on the type of tenancy you have before you complain to your landlord about disrepair.

Landlord's right of entry

If you are a tenant, your landlord cannot enter your home without your permission unless it is an emergency. If your landlord wants to inspect the property for disrepair, they should give you at least 24 hours notice in writing before they carry it out.

Putting right the disrepair

If you tell your landlord about the disrepair but they do not put it right, these are some of the options you have:

1: Contact the Council’s Consumer Protection Services

Local authorities have wide powers to make sure all homes in the borough are fit to live in. These powers cover both large and small repairs but Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) can inspect rented properties, and draw up lists of repairs that the landlord has to carry out.

If landlords fail to carry out repairs within a reasonable period then in some cases the Council can carry out the work and recover the costs from the landlord. Occasionally landlords can claim grants to help pay for necessary repairs.

Because of the formal procedures EHOs have to follow, it may take a long time before repair works are carried out, but emergency repairs are dealt with more quickly.

If you ask an EHO to inspect your home, they do not have to tell your landlord or the court how they found out that your accommodation needed repairing.

2: Court proceedings

As well as the Local Authority taking action, you can take your landlord to court to get them to do the works and/or ask for compensation for any damages to yourself, family or property.

This is a big step though, and before you start you should seek legal advice, especially as you may need to be represented at court. If you are getting benefit, or are on a low income and have little savings, you may qualify for Legal Aid to help with the cost of going to court.

3: Withholding rent to pay for repairs

If you tell your landlord about repair problems but nothing is done within a reasonable time, you can carry out minor repairs using future rent to cover costs.

However, it is extremely important that you get advice from a specialist solicitor first so that you follow the correct procedures as well as understand what can go wrong.

If you fail to carry out the correct procedure, your landlord may take action against you for rent arrears and could start possession proceedings.

You should never withhold your rent just to protest against disrepair.

Your rights during repair works

The landlord must ensure that repairs are done with minimum inconvenience to you. If this does not happen and some of your property or decorations are damaged you can apply to the court for compensation, or for the court to order that your landlord behaves reasonably. If the property needs major works such as the floors all being lifted, which cannot take place while you are living there, depending on your security of tenure, your landlord may have to:

  • Offer you somewhere else to live while some of the works are being done. In this case, a written agreement will have to be drawn up and you should get advice from a solicitor or advice agency before signing
  • Apply to a court for an order to make you give up possession of your accommodation

Tenant's obligations

By law, a tenant must use the property in a responsible manner. This means taking care of your home, for example, cleaning windows, replacing fuses, unblocking sinks and not damaging or allowing your family or guests to damage the property.

If you or your visitors damage the property, your landlord can sue for damages or apply to court for possession of your tenancy. In addition to this duty of care to the property, you will have to carry out repairs which are your responsibility under the tenancy agreement.

Your landlord cannot make you do repairs which are by law their responsibility.

Damage caused by accidents such as fire or flood may not be the landlord’s responsibility, but should normally be covered by the landlord’s property insurance. In addition, non-structural repairs and maintenance, for example, internal decoration and carpets, are not always the landlord’s responsibility; it will depend on the details of the individual tenancy agreements.

For more advice contact

Tenancy Relations Officer
Consumer Protection
154 Blackhorse Road
Walthamstow  E17 6NW
Tel 020 8496 3000

Leaflets online

There is a full range of Housing Services leaflets available here.

These leaflets are all available free of charge, by downloading from this website, by post or in person from our office.

The text for this web page has been adapted from the 'Repair Problems in Private Rented Accommodation' leaflet.

Repair problems in provate rented accommodation leaflet


Click here to download the Repair Problems in Private Rented Accommodation leaflet as an Adobe Acrobat pdf file (1.37MB).

Contact us

Housing Services

Cedar Wood House
2d Fulbourne Road
Walthamstow  E17 4GG  (map)

Tel: 020 8496 3000
Fax: 020 8496 5431

Opening hours
9am – 4.30pm Monday to Thursday
10am – 4.30pm Friday

Our office is located on Fulbourne Road.

Open to personal callers: Monday-Thursday, 9am-4.30pm; Fridays 10am-4.30pm

Telephone enquiries: 020 8496 5575, Monday-Thursday 9am-5.15pm; Friday 9am-5pm