Landlord repair responsibilities
Your rights and responsibilities
As a landlord you have certain rights and responsibilities to ensure your rental properties are safe and fit to live in. This means ensuring the property is structurally sound, and all heating, hot/cold water supplies, lighting, ventilation, gas and electricity supplies, bathrooms, kitchens and drainage are kept in good working order. There also need to be working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Landlords of HMOs have additional management responsibilities. So you can fulfil your repair responsibilities, you have the right to enter your rental properties to check what repairs are needed, provided you have given the tenant 24 hours' notice (unless an emergency) and agreed a suitable time with them.
Your tenant's rights and responsibilities
Tenants are responsible for carrying out minor repairs in accordance with the tenancy agreement, such paying for any damage they or a visitor has caused to he property. Tenants cannot be forced to carry out repairs which are the landlord's responsibility, and should report any such disrepair items so you can get these fixed. You must provide up-to-date contact details so they can do this. Your contact details need to be on display if the property is an HMO. The government has produced a useful guide to landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities
Carrying out repairs
If a tenant reports repairs, you should acknowledge their request promptly and set out (ideally in writing) how and when you intend to remedy the defect.
Then, carry out the necessary repairs in a reasonable timescale depending on the issue. For example a toilet should be unblocked within 24 hours whereas a dripping tap may be repaired within a longer timescale. If you fail to maintain your rental properties, we can serve notices requiring work to be done and take other enforcement action.