Tenant Repair Rights: What Your Landlord Must Fix
Driscoll Kingston & Co Limited · 27 May 2026 · 8 min read
What do tenant repair rights cover under English law?
Tenant repair rights are primarily set out in section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. The section imposes a statutory duty on landlords that cannot be contracted out of: no clause in a tenancy agreement can reduce or remove these repair rights.
Section 11 covers two broad categories:
Structure and exterior. The landlord must keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair. This includes the roof, walls, floors, ceilings, windows, external doors, gutters, and drains.
Installations. The landlord must keep in repair and proper working order all installations for the supply of water, gas, and electricity, for sanitation, and for space heating and heating of water.
| Covered by section 11 | NOT covered by section 11 |
|---|---|
| Roof, walls, floors, ceilings | Internal decoration |
| External windows and doors | Tenant's own fixtures and appliances |
| Boiler and central heating | Damage caused by the tenant |
| Hot water installation | Items in communal areas managed separately |
| Gas, electricity, plumbing | Garden maintenance (unless tenancy requires it) |
| Gutters and drains | Tenant's furniture |
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 adds a further layer to repair rights. The property must be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout.
What are landlords NOT required to repair?
- Items you installed yourself.
- Damage you caused through misuse or negligence.
- Communal areas managed by a freeholder.
- Items excluded from the tenancy (within the limit permitted by law).
If your landlord is claiming a defect is your fault in order to avoid carrying out a repair, a free legal assessment can determine whether that argument would stand up in court.
How do repair rights apply to private and social landlords?
Section 11 applies to both private and social landlords. A council tenant and a private rented sector tenant have the same repair rights under the statute.
Awaab's Law came into force in October 2025 as part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. It imposes mandatory response timeframes on registered social landlords:
- Emergency hazards (including loss of heating in winter): begin making the property safe within 24 hours
- Potential significant damp and mould: investigation completed within 10 working days of awareness
- Confirmed significant hazard: relevant safety work completed within 5 working days after the investigation
- Supplementary preventative work: begin, or take steps to begin, within 5 working days; if starting then is not reasonably practicable, work must start as soon as reasonably practicable and within 12 weeks
- Written investigation summary: usually provided within 3 working days after the investigation
Private landlords are not subject to Awaab's Law but remain bound by section 11 and the 2018 Act.
Does the notification requirement affect repair rights?
Yes. A landlord is not liable under section 11 until they have been notified of the defect. The practical consequence is that tenants should notify their landlord in writing as soon as a defect appears. Compensation in a disrepair claim is calculated from the date of notification, not from the date the problem first developed.
What counts as a reasonable timeframe for repairs?
Statute does not define "reasonable" for private landlords. Courts assess it by reference to:
- The severity and urgency of the defect
- The availability of specialist contractors
- Whether materials need to be ordered
- Whether access to the property was granted
In practice, courts expect emergency repairs within 24–48 hours, urgent repairs within one to three weeks, and non-urgent repairs within a reasonable number of weeks. For social landlords, Awaab's Law replaces this case-by-case assessment with fixed deadlines.
When do repair rights not apply because the tenant caused the damage?
If a tenant causes a defect through misuse or negligence, the landlord's repair obligation under section 11 does not apply to that item. Landlords sometimes allege tenant damage to avoid a legitimate repair obligation. Common examples include attributing damp to the tenant's lifestyle, attributing a boiler failure to misuse rather than age, or arguing water damage resulted from a tenant leaving a window open.
What to do when your landlord ignores your repair rights
Step 1: Written notification. State the defect clearly, give the date of discovery, and request repair within a specific timeframe.
Step 2: Written follow-up. Demonstrates that you gave the landlord a reasonable opportunity to comply before escalating.
Step 3: Letter of Claim. A solicitor can issue a Letter of Claim under the Housing Disrepair Pre-Action Protocol. The landlord has 20 working days to respond.
Step 4: Court proceedings or settlement. The court can order the landlord to carry out the repair, award compensation, and include a personal injury element if your health has been affected.
We act on a No Win, No Fee basis. For a detailed explanation of how compensation is calculated, see our compensation calculator. For the full legal framework, see section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
This article provides general legal information only. It does not constitute legal advice on any specific case. Awaab's Law Claims Specialists is a trading name of Driscoll Kingston & Co Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 839699).
