Repairs: your rights explained
Your landlord is legally responsible for the structure of your home and its essential services. Find out what they must fix, how quickly, and what to do when they do not act.
Get help with my complaintYour rights around repairs
Your landlord has legal obligations to keep your home in good repair. These obligations come from your tenancy agreement, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.
Social landlords are also regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and must meet the Decent Homes Standard. Since October 2025 (Phase 1), Awaab's Law adds strict deadlines for damp, mould and emergency hazards, and Phase 2 extends those deadlines to seven more hazard types from 30 November 2026.
If your landlord is not doing repairs, you have the right to complain, and to take the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman if it is not resolved.
Legal deadlines
Repairs that pose an immediate risk to health or safety, such as gas leaks, total loss of heating in winter, structural collapse risk, or severe water ingress, must begin within 24 hours. Under Awaab's Law Phase 1 (in force since October 2025), your landlord must investigate any emergency hazard within 24 hours.
Repairs that affect your daily use of essential facilities, such as partial heating failure, a hot water outage, or a significant plumbing leak, are typically classed as urgent. Most social landlords commit to starting urgent repairs within 3-7 working days in their repairs policy.
Routine repairs, such as minor plastering, routine window or door repairs, and non-urgent flooring, are typically completed within 20-28 working days. Check your landlord's repairs policy for their specific commitments.
Key facts
What is your landlord legally responsible for?
Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, your landlord must keep in repair: the structure and exterior of the property (walls, roof, foundations, windows, drains); installations for heating, hot water, gas, electricity, and sanitation; and communal areas of a block or estate.
What are you responsible for?
Tenants are generally responsible for minor internal repairs, such as replacing lightbulbs, keeping the property clean and properly ventilated, reporting repairs promptly, and not causing deliberate damage. If damage is caused by your actions, your landlord may charge you for the repair.
What is the Decent Homes Standard?
All social housing must meet the Decent Homes Standard. A decent home is one that meets the current minimum standard for housing, is in a reasonable state of repair, has reasonably modern facilities, and provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. If your home fails this standard, you can make a complaint.
What to do step by step
Keep a written record at every stage. Dates and written communications are your most important evidence.
Report the repair in writing
Email your landlord describing the repair needed, the location, and the effect on your daily life. Take photos. Note the date. This starts any applicable deadline clock.
Check your landlord's repairs policy
Most social landlords publish their repairs policy online. Find the category your repair falls into (emergency, urgent, or routine) and the timeframe they have committed to. If they miss their own deadline, this strengthens your complaint.
Make a formal complaint if not done on time
If the repair is not started or completed within the timeframe, make a formal Stage 1 complaint. State the repair, the date reported, and the deadline missed. Use TenantSafe to generate a correctly-referenced letter.
Escalate to Stage 2 if needed
If the Stage 1 response does not resolve your complaint, request a Stage 2 review. Your landlord has 20 working days to respond.
Refer to the Housing Ombudsman
After completing both stages, refer to the Housing Ombudsman if still unresolved. The Ombudsman can order the repair to be completed and award compensation for the delay and any impact on your life.
Get a formal complaint letter in minutes
TenantSafe produces a correctly-referenced complaint letter based on your specific situation, with the right legal references, the right deadlines and the right tone. It is free and takes less than 10 minutes.
Generate my free complaint letterCommon questions
Can I arrange my own repair if my landlord is not acting?+
In some circumstances yes, but this is complex and risky. If you carry out or commission repairs without your landlord's agreement, you may not be reimbursed and could be in breach of your tenancy agreement. The safer route is to use the formal complaint process and, if needed, apply to court for a specific performance order, which a solicitor can help with. Contact Shelter or Citizens Advice before taking this step.
Does my landlord have to repair things that I damaged?+
No. Your landlord is responsible for wear-and-tear repairs, but not for damage caused by you or your household. If there is a dispute about whether the damage was caused by normal use or by you, this can be investigated as part of a formal complaint.
What if the repair is in a communal area, such as a corridor or lift?+
Your landlord is responsible for keeping communal areas in repair. Report communal area problems using the same process: in writing, noting the date. Lift failures, lighting failures, and entrance door faults that affect your access to your home are treated as urgent repairs.
My landlord has started the repair but not finished it. What can I do?+
If a repair was started but not completed within a reasonable time, this is a valid complaint. Write to your landlord asking for a specific completion date. If that date passes without completion, make a formal Stage 1 complaint.